Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage
by TimeAndLife21
Summary: The Sand sibs were cleaning the attic and found a key that goes to a book. Not just any book though, their parent's Journal. So they start reading it and..."Mr. Fairy suits you, you know, because you carry a little gourd filled with that gold dust." "You have a personality of a sand cat and a temper like one" "I hate you with a burning passion" "Funny, I think i love you."
1. Chapter 1

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

Temari was up in her homes attic. It was dusty everywhere. On old pieces of furniture, some old vanities that once belonged to her mother, and a few old toy chests that Temari knew she, Kankuro, and Gaara played with when they were younger. Temari's sand gold hair wasn't in their usual 4 ponytails. It was currently in a singular ponytail and she was wearing some grubby clothing. A large t-shirt and ripped pants and some old shoes that she found in the back of her closet.

She huffed as she pushed back a strand of hair. She finally decided that before she was to marry Shikamaru Nara-He proposed to her in broad daylight with a simple diamond ring and being the lazy man he was, he took too long to propose, so she just slapped him before she kissed him saying yes. - She wanted to clean out her homes attic. Kankuro and Gaara didn't even realize that they had an attic; she called them both idiots before stomping upstairs to start cleaning.

* * *

She basically managed to clean everything, taking some of her mother's old stuff and put them into the guest room to clean them later as soon as she cleaned up the dusty attic. It took her more than 4 hours, before she threatened her two brothers that she would not be cooking for them for the next few weeks if they don't help her. They complied quickly. Kankuro, a puppet master and second oldest of the trio, was disgusted by the fact that there was so much dust that collected over the years. He was currently wearing black shorts and a red t-shirt and he was without his face paint today. His brown hair was messy from all the cleaning that he did.

Gaara, the youngest of the trio, looked around in wonder and scolded himself slightly for not noticing the attic sooner. He used his sand to polish and clean any metalwork that was too large to move downstairs. His blood red hair was slightly tousled and his light aqua eyes were showing signs of fatigue from mopping the floor on his hands and knees. _"I'm Kazekage…why am I mopping the floor? Oh wait, my sister would really kill me if I didn't do it." _He smirked lightly at his thoughts. He chuckled lightly. Since Gaara rehabilitated from his younger days, he actually came to fear his sister's wrath, though he always faced it with his infamous poker face. He felt his rag that he was mopping with, snag onto a broken board and frowned.

He tugged away the rag and examined the lifted board. _"Is there something underneath it?" _He thought to himself He used his fingertips to pry underneath the board and with a groan, the board came off in one piece and dust flew into his face. He coughed for a couple of minutes before his older siblings came to him. "Hey Gaara, you okay?" Kankuro asked as he kneeled next to Gaara. Gaara nodded. "I'm fine, the board was loose so I took it out." Gaara said as he peered into the space underneath the floor. Temari came over with a confused face and also kneeled next to her brother and reached into the space and felt around it. "I don't think there's any-Wait!" She started to say as she felt her hand grasp something smooth and cool to the touch.

She lifted the small object up by a simple silk ribbon. It must've once been red, because the color has faded quite a bit, turning the ribbon into a murky light red-grey. Attached to it, was a simple gold key. It looked ancient to her brother's eyes, but Temari recognized it anywhere. "I know this key." She murmured softly. Her teal eyes took on a soft look as she gazed at the key. "What is it Temari?" Kankuro asked annoyed. It was just a stupid key to him. What value did it hold? Gaara looked at the key with a curiosity of a small child. Gaara may be eighteen years old now, but being out casted by his village since he was small, he never really had the chance to be a normal kid. And since the 4th Shinobi War was over, he could take life much easier that it was beforehand. Being a General was hard work.

"Temari, what is that key?" Gaara asked softly. His sister's gaze saddened him a little. He could see some tears forming at the corner of her eyes. She rarely cried. When she was upset, she would usually take her fan and go out to the dunes and train for long amounts of time. It was silent for a few minutes before Temari smiled sadly. "I know this key. It was the key that Mom wore always. I remember Uncle Yashamaru telling me about Mom getting this key from Father. I think she was a chunin at the time when he gave her this. He did say that it was a key to a book." She said as she took on a determined look on her face. She looked around and saw that the attic had been clean up nicely enough that she wants to look for a book that could have a lock. "Okay boys, let's put some stuff back up here and I need your help looking for a book with a lock on it. And make it quick!" She said smiling with a smile that was contagious and her brothers smiled back at her with the same brightness.

* * *

_**TAL21:**_Okay, yes i know, i should be working on **The Dead Tell No Tales**, but really this story was stuck in my head for a while and i hope to actually get some good reviews on this one. XD There's hardly any good parent fics about The Sand Sibs parents and i honestly thought that Karura deserved a little more description in the Manga as well as the Fourth Kazekage. So This will probably be short little ficlets of different times of Their lives. Starting with their younger years as teenagers. Anyways i hope you guys are interested and enjoy the short stores that i will be posting up on here about Karura and the 4th Kazekage (Whom i shall name Sunamaru) If you have any qualms about his name, let me know. Remember! Keep READING AND IMAGINING! Any opinions and reviews are welcomed.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

It had been two days since the siblings found the key and they combed the house for any books that would have a lock on them of any kind, but no such luck. Gaara took to the living room, library, and den, Kankuro to the rooms and bathrooms, Temari took the kitchens and other rooms that were left overlooked. But their luck will change.

Gaara was currently in his office at his desk looking over documents for the improving economy of Suna, when a woman walked in. She looked about around the age of 35 and she looked like she was a bit younger than that. She was fairly thin, but she sported a Suna headband tied around her neck. Her hair was a mouse brown with some silver strands in it, and she was wearing the generic Suna ninja outfit, nothing too special. She had grey eyes that held wisdom in them and a gentle smile graced her face. "Hello Kazekage-sama. I trust that you are doing well?" Her voice sounded. It sounded like the soft murmurings of the wind, but it held strength behind them. He looked up from his table and observed the woman.

"I'm am doing fine. May I inquire who you are?" He asked politely. The woman laughed. "Ah, forgive me Kazekage-sama. My name is Sano Reiko. I believe you sent for me about a search mission?" She asked with a smile. Gaara's eyes lit up. This must be the woman he needed to help him. "Yes. And forgive me if the mission is mediocre, but I would greatly appreciate your duty if you can help myself and my siblings." He asked. Reiko nodded. "It is fine, just tell me what to do." She said smiling. He nodded as he pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. "My siblings and myself found a key that we believe belonged to our mother. We also believe that it belongs to a book that would have a lock on it that would match the key." He said as he gave the information to the woman.

The woman read through the paper and smiled brightly, as if she knew what the key already belongs to. "Ah, Kazekage-sama, I believe I know exactly where this key belongs to." She said as she pulled up a chair and sat down. Gaara was confused. "You called the right person. You may never know this, but I was a good friend of your mother and father. Though more of your mother though." Reiko said as she chuckled to herself. "I know that key anywhere. You said it might belong to a book?" Reiko said with a secret smile. Gaara nodded. _"What is the woman thinking of?"_He pondered. The woman laughed.

"My, I'm surprised you never knew of the Journal that Hikaru-sama and Karura-chan wrote. Have you read it yet? Of course not, you just found the key. And if you are wondering where the book is, I know exactly where it is." She paused. "It's hiding in plain sight. It's a shame that you and your siblings didn't know about the book." She smiled as she stood up and walked over to the offices bookcase and passed her hand through many titles. She then stopped her hand over a book titled, "_The History of Sunagakure." _By Ryumaru Hakeda. She took it out and placed it onto the desk. Gaara looked at it incredulously. It had a lock on it, made of gold and it was twisted in such a way that he thought it was beautiful artwork.

"Some books go under different titles. Karura always enjoyed the fact of tricking people into thinking that she loved the history of Suna. It was hilarious!" Reiko said as she sat back down. "Karuma and Hikaru were always bickering about whether or not to title it as a journal or a diary. So Karuma, being the somewhat crazy girl she was, decided to name it that way. The look she got from Hikaru-sama was incredulously hilarious. I don't think Karura laughed so hard in her life." Reiko giggled. She got up and decided to leave the office, but before she did so, she turned back to Gaara and said, "I'm sure you and your siblings will get a kick out of that book. Your father was not as serious as some people claimed to be." She said smiling as left the room with a confused Kazekage.

* * *

Temari was poker-faced. Gaara was also poker-faced, but in a serious way. Temari frowned. "You have got to be kidding me Gaara. There's no way that this book is Mom and Dad's journal. I don't even remember them writing in anything!" She said as she crossed her arms and frowned. Gaara shook his head. "Reiko-san said that this is the book. Why not see if the key fits." He asked politely. Temari frowned. "Geez, who would put a lock on a history book. That's just beyond me." She said as she sat down on the comfortable lounge couch.

Kankuro snatched the book away from Temari and examined it. "Why would Father and Mom put a lock on it, period? Afraid that someone would look in it and find secrets, Ha! I'm shaking in my shoes." Kankuro said jokingly. Gaara commanded his sand to grab the book from Kankuro's hands and gave it back to Temari. "We won't know unless we find out." Gaara said as the sand gave it back to Temari. Both brothers sat on either side of their sister.

Temari bit her lip a little as she held the gold key. She never really knew much about her mother or father's past. And she didn't care much for it either since her father sealed the Shukaku into Gaara. She hated him since then. But after what happened in the battlefield, fighting her father alongside Gaara, and him personally saying that her mother loved Gaara and wanted to protect him no matter what, she regained faith in her family again.

She placed the key in the lock and froze a little. Then gathered the courage to turn the key and the lock opened with a snap. The sibling held a breath unconsciously. Temari flipped open the cover and there were papers that were tanning around the edges. The front page was titled: _To Our Future Children. _It was written with two different writing styles. Temari recognized her mothers smooth strokes of calligraphy and her fathers short, precise, and bold writing.

_**To Our Future Children:**_

_It may have been years or more since this journal has been put together since we have become married. __**We have decided to put both our journals together and place in what memories stood out to us over the years, and writing down even more memories along the way of our lives. **__In short, we want you to know what happened with us when we were younger. Starting with some of our teenage years and progressing into our adulthood. __**Some entries may be short or long (Though I believe that they will be long, knowing your mother). **__Thus your father received a black eye for writing that. The jerk. __**As you are reading this, you may be wondering, "Why should we care about our parents lives? What have they went through that we haven't?" **_ _Well, you may be surprised. Whatever personalities we have shown you while growing up, we were not always that way. In fact, you'd be surprised that your father and I butted heads more times that we can count. __**You'd be surprised that your mother was actually a spitfire in the village and no man could have the courage (or the balls) enough to even ask her out on a date. **__No woman was safe from your playboy father and his shameless flirting. __**And to top it off, we both had many good times together, and many misadventures. **__We have also had very hard times as well. The Third Shinobi War took a toll on us as Suna's economy plunged to dark times. __**And being in line for next Kazekage didn't help much. And with many missions that nearly caused our deaths, **__and nearly ended my life, we have gone to Hell and back for each other. __**So with these last words to start off our journal for you to read, we hope that we have become good parents in your eyes. **__I love you with all my heart and I will protect you no matter what. __**WE will make sure you are never harmed and you will be raised in a good family. We hope that you love us as well. **__So now we close with our loving words for you, our beloved children, __**we hope you understand how much we adore you and cherish you.**_

_With deep love, __**your Mother and Father, **__Karura Kusabana __**and**_ _**Hikaru Sabuku.**_

Temari finished reading out loud the passage that the siblings' parents wrote out. Kankuro was silent and Gaara had a far away look in his eyes. Temari felt some tears leak out and fall onto the page. They were in shock and awe of what was written down in the first page. Temari never really connected with her father since her mother's death, and she barely remembered her, this journal could be just the closure she needed to know who her mother was, beyond Yashamaru's words of her. The brothers were curious intensely. "Well…keep reading Temari. We don't really know much about our parents." Kankuro said awkwardly. Gaara nodded. "We'll take turns…if that's okay with you." He said as he leaned back into the couch.

Temari smiled. "Okay. We'll take turns. I'll start off. I can't wait to read what mom and dad wrote down." She said as she turned a page. "Hey, who knows, maybe we will learn something new about them." Kankuro said smiling. "Read, Temari-nee-chan." Gaara said with intense curiosity and intensive concentration. "Okay. Here we go." And Temari started reading.

* * *

_**TAL21:**_HA! You think i would continue onward? Maybe, maybe not. I still stand by my 3-5 review rule if i am to continue on with a story. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and be on guard for the Next chapter of **The Dead Tell no Tales **coming up later in the week and i hope you will enjoy reading that! As for this Story _**Wind and Sand, **_this story will be having little ficlets of what I believe went on in the lives of the Sabuku parents and switching between journal form and story form. Also with a little bit of sand sib lives mixed in with them, i hope that this will turn out nicely! :D Reviews and opinions are appreciated, and i hope to hear from you soon! Remember to KEEP ON READING AND IMAGINING! (PS: Here's a lift sneak-peak of what's to come in the next chapter.)  
_**Preview:**_ _Then, "Fairy!" "Sand Cat." "Drag Queen" "Tomboy." "That's the best you can do Tinkerbelle?" "Nope, I still have a lot of words to describe them, Chibi." "Hey! How dare you call me that! I'm petite! Not Chibi, you string bean." "String bean? Ha! What a lame comeback, chicky." "At least I eat healthy, you vampire." "I thought you were calling me a fairy, kid?" "No, I'm saying you sparkle like a fairy because of that gold dust jutsu you have, I'm calling you a vampire because you are a freak of nature. You have no tan and we are out in the desert, Old man." "I'm four years older than you, Sand cat. My, you have a horrible temper."_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

_**Karura Diary entry #1:**_ _**Hikaru Sabuku is a Jerk!**_

_I hate Hikaru Sabuku with a burning passion of a thousand burning suns. I don't care if he's next in line for Kazekage. I despise him. He's right across from me, hanging with his teammates smiling and laughing- Stupid rich boy. His hair is an auburn color (Though it looks red in certain lights) and he looks like he is wearing eyeliner on his burgundy eyes. I swear if Reiko-chan weren't holding me back, I'd strangle Hikaru in a heartbeat. It doesn't help that he is a bit good looking too and about 4 years older than me. Tall, Handsome, though he's pale as ivory though (Seriously, we live in a desert, where's his tan? Or is he secretly a girl?), and pretty smart too. Not only that he has a cool jutsu. He controls gold dust. Seriously, I should call him Mr. Fairy sometime, just to get on his nerves. And get this; he carries a small little gourd to hold the dust in it. HA! What a guy. NOT!_

_ Yashamaru had decided to get me this diary because he said, "You need an outlet for your pent up anger, Karura-nee-chan. You have a tendency to hurt people around you if you keep this up." I love my little brother to death, but really he can get annoying sometimes. You see, I moved to Suna with my family a few years back. And seeing that we didn't have the best income: My mother being a prostitute and my father being a recovering alcoholic. It was time for a change. My mother now has a steady job working as a waitress, and my dad helping rehabilitate ninja who have a need of giving up alcohol so they can focus on their lives and making it better. Really this is a change for the better. Yashamaru and I decided to help improve our income by becoming ninja. It would appear that Yashamaru and me were exceptional ninja. Yashamaru was better than me though. Dumb little brother. But hey, I'm proud of him. Me? Not so much. But I have pretty good aim with shuriken and kunai knives and just for shits and giggles; I bought myself a huge fan as a weapon. _

_ Yes, fear me! For I am Karura! The Wind Mistress! Okay, maybe I need to work on the name. But hey, it's fun blowing away my opponents. Oh crap. Hika-poo is coming over. What does he want? Maybe I should call him Mr. Fairy and see what his reaction will be. I'll be back Diary!_

* * *

Karura sat down her pen and tucked away her "diary" in her bag. She had her medium length dirty blond hair in a high ponytail and her teal-grey eyes narrowed at the boy that was walking over to her. He was smirking. She frowned at the boy whom she despised.

"What do you want Mr. Fairy?" She said as she smiled spitefully. Hikaru stopped in his tracks and Karura laughed at his expression.

"What…did you call me?" He said his slightly deep voice said.

Karura giggled. "Mr. Fairy. You know, because you carry gold dust? Seriously. People would have to mistake you as a fairy for carrying gold dust." She said sharply. Hikaru glared at the woman in front of him.

"That is ridiculous. But really, could you come up with a better nickname that that? That has got to be the lamest I've ever heard." He smiled crookedly.

Hikaru was not one to back down that easily. "Maybe I should call you "Sand Cat". A ferocious beast with a temper like yours and a personality like one." He grinned back.

Now it was Karura's turn to glare at him. "Sorry Fairy, I like your nickname. It suits you so well." She said venomously. "Plus I feel bad for your future children. They will probably sparkle like you, and look like you too. Oh well I guess that's the price you pay for being a Fairy I guess." She said as she stood up to leave. Hikaru wouldn't have it. He grabbed her wrist and held her in that spot.

"Damn, you have a sharp tongue. I feel sorry for your future husband who has to deal with it." He said smiling crookedly. Both of them locked eyes with each other and glared with all their might.

Then, "Fairy!"

"Sand Cat."

"Drag Queen"

"Tomboy."

"That's the best you can do Tinkerbelle?"

"Nope, I still have a lot of words to describe you, Chibi."

"Hey! How dare you call me that! I'm petite! Not Chibi, you string bean."

"String bean? Ha! What a lame comeback, chicky."

"At least I eat healthy, you vampire."

"I thought you were calling me a fairy, kid?"

"No, I'm saying you sparkle like a fairy because of that gold dust jutsu you have, I'm calling you a vampire because you are a freak of nature. You have no tan and we are out in the desert, Old man."

"I'm four years older than you, Sand cat. My, you have a horrible temper."

Karura and Hikaru glared at each other more. "They're at it again? Yeash, this is the fourth time this month that they are fighting." A stander by said to his companion. "Yeah, you're telling me. At least Hikaru has the guts to face Karura. The rest of the male population has either been on the receiving end of her mean left hook or a knee to the groin. I'm surprised that he's lasting this long." Another person said. "Well he is the next Kazekage. I wouldn't be surprised if she had to restrain herself against making such pains at him to save face." A woman said.

Hikaru smirked. Karura gave a sneer at the older boy. He let her wrist go and he took a step back. He placed his hand in his pockets and leaned back a little.

"Stop scowling, your pretty face will stick that way." He said smiling.

Karura gave a huff. "Tch, flattery will get you nowhere. Why don't you go and flaunt yourself at your fan club. I'm sure they would love to fawn over your sparkling fairy self." She said as she turned away. "At least they have some body and you are just a flat-chested broad with no particular talent." He muttered. Karura froze in her tracks.

_**NO ONE **_insulted Karura Kusabana and gets away with it. Her eyes took on a dark teal color and she turned around and gave Hikaru her glare of death.

"**What. Did. You. Say?"** She spoke with malice and anger.

Hikaru looked away as if her glare didn't affect him "I'm sure you heard me, or you must be deaf." He said flippantly.

Meanwhile people in the area took cover. It was fairly common for them to take cover from the blond-haired chunin when she get's mad. They started grabbing their fragile items and dragged them inside. Pottery, glass vases, their children and other things and slammed their doors shut. The citizens fear the girl's wrath. The Shinobi, on the other hand, took to the tops of roofs a safe distance away. Hikaru never noticed that.

Karura's bangs covered her eye and in a swift movement she took out her giant fan and opened it in full swing.

"**SABUKU! YOU ARE DEAD, YOU JERK!" **She shouted as she forced all of her chakra into her fan and swung with full force. "Wind Style: Wind Scythe Jutsu!" She shouted as wind blades sped towards Hikaru.

His eyes widened in surprise and he quickly uncorked his medium-sized gourd of gold dust and created a shield to protect himself from the onslaught of the girl's attacks. Then he experienced the most painful thing in the world.

* * *

_**TAL21:**_And a cliffhanger! There are two parts to this chapter, and the next part will come up on sunday when i Update The dead tell no tales! So you have a little taste of what Karura is like, I mean, what do you think Temari got her personality from? LOL. The next chapter will feature Hikaru as we dive into his life of moving up in the world and politics are going to take a wild ride. XD And I had a few questions about this and here i will answer.

**To SpunkyPaperAngel: **The reasons why i hold my stories "Hostage" is because I'd like _feedback_ from the readers and how they feel about the story. If i don't get much feedback, i can't continue a story that people would just go 'eh, it's okay' and just follow it. Not only that i thoroughly enjoy writing and i push myself to the limits to finish it. Which is why i'm trying my best to do **_"The _****_ Dead Tell No Tales" _**_and** "Wind and Sand". "Wind and Sand" **_will most likely be a short fic and about 20 chapters or so, so this would be pretty easy to work with. Not only that, I also feel sad that there are not many Fics on Karura and the 4th Kazekage. And i wanted to make it while still working on TDTNT. I hope that answers your review! :)

**To xMissNalax: **I have a hard time working with paragraphs and dialogue when it comes to things like this (Considering the fact that i took College English 101 and didn't work much on dialogue, it's a bit rough), but i will keep that in mind and will experiment with my stories and how to separate the dialogue from the paragraph. Thank you for helping out! :)

Anyways, i hope you enjoyed this chapter, though short, but sweet, and i hope you guys will enjoy the next! :) Remember, Opinions, Reviews and Feedbacks are welcomed and appreciated and KEEP ON READING AND IMAGINING! :D


	4. Chapter 4

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

**_Hikaru Journal Entry #1: Karura is a bitch…and has a mean left hook._**

******You know, it's a funny feeling when a girl who is shorter than you (and your mortal enemy in more ways than one) punches you in the face. Generally, I think kunoichi don't pack that much of a punch. But I was proved _wrong_. She hit me. In the face, and I think I flew like 80 feet away. All I can say is this. HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS THAT ARE HOLY, SHE FREAKING HIT ME! IN THE FACE OF THE NEXT KAZEKAGE!**

**Not that I really want to be Kazekage, but honestly, I need to keep up a good complexion if I need favor from the people of Suna. Here I am, in my home with my so called 'Father' and 'cousin', and Sasori just looked at me with a look on his face that clearly said, 'You pissed someone off, didn't you?' I swear he is telepathic. Either that or its just his puppetry that creeps me out.**

**I told him that it wasn't my fault that Chibi (Karura) took offense to what I said. He just gave me a blank stare and slapped me on the side of the head. That was the most painful thing I have experienced. And Damn! She packs a punch. But I have to admit; she looks cute when she's angry. Not as cute as some other girls that I know. **

**I think I won't be going to some clubs for the next couple of weeks. This shiner is going to take a while. Maybe I should apologize…Nah. She's a bitch. A tomboy-ish bitch and she is flat chested. But the power behind that attack of hers, even I have to admit, that was a powerful attack. She managed to get a couple of scratches on my arm too. She could possibly make jounin. Whoa… I just got chills. That would be very scary if she does make Jounin.**

**Speaking of Jounin, The jounin exams are coming up. I'm a jounin and I have to over see a part of the exam. 'Father' said that, "In order for you to reach the Kazekage status, you must oversee at least a part of the exam and judge if the person should be a jounin." The thing about Suna Jounin exams is that they take place only once a year and they are harsher than the chunin exams. There is a twenty page written test, a solo test out in the dunes and avoid the Suna Anbu at all costs for five days. If they catch you, you are as good as dead. The last test is a doozy. You have to go against the Kazekage. If you can evade his onslaught of his iron sand jutsus for as long as 5 minutes, you pass. But very rarely can people pass the test. About a 27 percent pass rate.**

**I was one of the lucky few that could take on my 'Father' and win… and I didn't evade his attacks, oh no, I fought him head on. His jutsus are hard to go against, but it was worth the scars on my chest from fighting him. You'd say that I was insane for going against him, but I wanted to show him, that I could surpass him. And I will surpass him and I will be strong to hold up the village. I'll show him and the council. And I'll prove to them, that I am fit to be Kazekage.**

* * *

Hikaru leaned back against his chair, only to wince as pain went through his back. "Itai! That girl sure has a temper." He muttered. He got up and cracked his neck to get a kink out and he walked over to his open window. It was now dark out in Suna. He spent almost the entire day avoiding the Wind Devil of Suna. That even he, Hikaru of the Wind, was running for his life to not get his head decapitated by that girl. He'd rather have his head lying on a girls lap than on the streets.

He looked out into Suna and he admired the rooftops and the quiet wind blowing. Then none other than his cousin interrupted the silence for him.

"Hikaru. Father wants to speak with you. And…I think you should explain to him how you got that black eye." Sasori smirked.

Sasori and him are on somewhat good terms. The Third Kazekage, Tetsu, sort of adopted them in a sense. He saw Sasori's abilities and Hikaru's to be 'exceptional.' So he put them under his close watch.

Sasori's grandmother, Chiyo, raised him when he was five years old. And she taught him everything about Puppetry. Hikaru thought that was strange, but since Chiyo herself created the Puppet Brigade, he trusted them. Besides, Suna's elite puppeteers has given them an edge in the Second war, they are to be feared. Hikaru frowned a little.

"I'll just tell him that I fell down the stairs." He said as he pushed Sasori out of the way.

"I could tell him that you angered the Wind Devil. And knowing him, he would be scolding you about not being mature enough to be next Kazekage." Sasori said smirking. Hikaru stopped in his tracks and sighed. "What do you want Sasori?" Hikaru exasperated.

Sasori chuckled. "I need more wires and some gold plates for my next puppet…would you care to help me?" Sasori smiled. Hikaru felt chills down his back. _"Geez, this guy can be creepy sometimes." _He thought as he sighed.

"Fine, fine, I'll get you your wires and plates. And I'll tell Tetsu that I got hit by a girl." Hikaru said.

Sasori laughed with mirth. "So the stories are true. A little girl did punch you in the face. And a Chunin, no less." He kept chuckling. Hikaru turned around and growled at Sasori.

"Shut it! I don't see what made her so damn mad! I told her that she was a pretty face. And that she was flat chested." He said as he crossed his arms.

Sasori gave him a blank look of 'You have got to be kidding me.' "You suck at complementing girls sometimes, Hikaru. Especially girls like Karura Kusabana. Even I know when to stay away from the girl when she rages." Sasori said as he walked away.

Hikaru winced. He didn't need to be told twice, he was having an off day today, usually girls would be swooning left and right for him…except for the Chibi. He walked down stairs to the first level of the house and walked into the kitchen, where the cook was. The cook was a plump woman about the age of 40. She had neck length curly strawberry blonde locks wrapped into a tight bun with a few strands hanging out.

She was currently cleaning up the kitchen when he sat down on a stool. Meeting Tetsu could wait a few minutes. He needed something for his black eye. "Hey Fauna, do you have anything for a black eye?" He asked and he delicately placed his hand on the outer rim of his black eye and winced as he touched it.

Fauna looked up with a frown on her face. "You got into a fight again? That's the fifth time this month!" She said with a disapproving look.

"I didn't get into a fight with a gang this time Fauna, it was a girl, a little devil of a girl. Karura Kusabana." Hikaru frowned.

Fauna slapped an ox-steak wrapped in plastic onto his black eye. "Itai! WOMAN! That hurts!" He said glaring at the plump woman with one eye. Fauna looked back and smirked, as if she didn't hear him.

"I know who you are talking about. You pissed her off again didn't you? It doesn't surprise me. Since she moved here, you are very much determined to make her notice you. But you are doing it wrong." Fauna said as she turned back to clean the dishes.

Hikaru scowled. "I know, the thing is, I can make any woman putty in my hands, and she is most likely one of those girls that could be a lesbian…it's wouldn't surprise me." He said as he adjusted the steak on his eye.

Fauna smacked him with a wooden spoon on the top of his head. He yipped in pain. "No lip from you Hika! Maybe this girl has more sense than any other of the girls you have dated. The girls you would bring home either had no brain, only care about status, or are so dense that they cannot be human in my eyes." Fauna said as she placed the plates away.

He rubbed the sore spot where Fauna hit him. She may be a cook, but she was quite a bit of the mother figure in his life, even if she was a bit violent. Losing his parents at the age of 2 wasn't easy for him. Fauna practically raised him.

"Okay fine, I'll look for plain girls that wear no make-up and flat chested and somewhat intelligent." He muttered. He received another whack to the head. "OR…you can take her out on a date as an apology, and she may forgive you." Fauna said as she sat down on the stool across from him.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I can see it now. Me taking Sand Cat out on a date and she would be glaring at me, planning my murder the entire way. Like hell I will." Hikaru said as he stood up as started walking out the door, but he paused and looked back at Fauna, who was wearing a sly smile on her face.

Hikaru knew when his cook beat him to the punch. "Okay fine, I'll see what I can do. Let's just hope that she doesn't punch me in the face again." He said as Fauna laughed herself to the floor.

* * *

After Temari finished reading, she burst into giggles. Kankuro was full out laughing, and Gaara rolled his eyes, chuckling along. After the siblings calmed down a bit, Kankuro spoke. "Well, I never realized that they hated each other from the start! I can't believe that mom hit him like that."

Temari was still suffering from her giggle fit. "I know, I didn't know mom was such a hard-ass." She snuck through her giggles.

Gaara had an amused face on. Temari managed to calm down a bit and started to breathe normally again. "Wow. I guess we weren't as normal as we thought we were." Temari giggled again.

Gaara shook his head. To him, it was a bit fascinating that his parents were completely different people than they were when he heard about them from word of mouth from his sensei and siblings. He felt like his hit a realization that his parents were just normal like them. "Can we continue reading it Temari?" Gaara asked innocently. Temari shook her head.

"It's late, it's time for bed, and we'll continue reading it tomorrow okay? I'm sure that there are a lot of journal entries for us to read anyways. I'll keep this in my room so you guys don't read ahead of me." Temari smiled.

Kankuro's face dropped and Gaara frowned. "Hey! We wouldn't do that!" Kankuro defended himself. Gaara spoke up. "I want to read more, but why should it be with you? Won't you be reading ahead?" Gaara wanted to know as much about his parents with a bit of trust in him.

Temari shook her head good naturally. "Don't worry, I wont read ahead. Besides, what kind of sister would I be if I can't have a little family time with my little brothers?" She cooed.

"A really bitchy one that's for sure." Kankuro muttered. And Kankuro took off running with Temari on his heels with her fan armed and ready to kick his butt.

Gaara decided that the book would be in his safekeeping. He figured that as long at Temari has the key, the siblings wouldn't be able to read it without her. So until next time, he'll keep it safe. The siblings prepared themselves to go to bed after Temari caught Kankuro hiding in the closet and smacking him to death warning him not to call her a bitch again. He grumbled and went straight to bed.

Temari was heading to her room when she passed Gaara's room. The door was open and Gaara was sitting on his bed skimming pages of the journal. '_He must be looking for an entry of his birth.' _Temari thought sadly.

This is a rare occurrence when Gaara finds something about himself that he really never knew. Maybe her father wrote something in the Journal about him. She walked in and sat next to him. He was still skimming the journal. She stopped him by placing a hand on a random page and closed the book and locking it.

Gaara looked at her with a hurt and innocent expression. She couldn't help but chuckle. "Gaara, you need your sleep. We'll read another entry tomorrow okay?" She coaxed.

Since Gaara was a little more understanding with his emotions, he does have a very slight mischievous side that hardly comes out. Only in desperate times, like this, will he try to break his sister into doing what he wants.

"But I was only looking for and entry of me Temari, can't I do that?" He said widening his eyes in attempt to look more innocent then he would. But Temari wouldn't have it. "Nope. Give me the book; I know you will be up half the night trying to find yourself in it. Tell you what, we'll read the book after breakfast okay?" She reasoned. Gaara looked down at the book and back up to his sister, and finally gave in and gave the book to her.

"Thanks little brother. See you in the morning." She said kissing him on the forehead.

The siblings may have their crazy and funny moments, but it's the softer moments like this that make them family. And neither of them could be any happier.

* * *

_**TAL21:**_Okay, yes a little surprise chapter, it was just so cute that i had to put it up! XD So, the next chapter will be Saturday instead of friday because of this update. I hope you guys liked this chapter and i hope you liked Hikaru's point of view of things. I tried to give him a bit of a mischievous and slightly funny playboy outlook with a hint of hidden angst and talent. So i hope you like him this way and I hope that you guys will make yes, Sasori is going to be a part of this story,(I honestly think he was defiantly misunderstood and i want to give him a little love.) And I hope you enjoyed that! Remember! I'd like to have at least 3-5 reviews **before **i put up the next chapter. Feedback is a gal's best friend! :D Remember! REVIEWS AND OPINIONS ARE WELCOMED! And KEEP ON READING AND IMAGINING! :D


	5. Chapter 5

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

Temari woke up refreshed and relaxed as the sun's rays came in through the windows of the home. She smiled and she got up and stretched herself out. She swung her legs over the lip of her bed and got up and bent over to touch her toes and bent back in a snap; resulting in making her back crack quite a bit. She did her morning rituals: Go to the bathroom, brush her teeth, take her shower, put clothes on, do her hair, and go down the stairs and do what she does best: Cooking breakfast for her brothers.

As she headed toward the kitchen, she heard voices. "Gaara, seriously, can't your sand get into the mechanisms of the lock and open it?" Kankuro's voice said, coming from the kitchen.

She peeked through a crack of the door and saw her brothers hovering over the journal. They must've got up early to sneak into her room and take the book to read it for themselves. Unfortunately for them, she had the key in her clothes pocket and they never thought to check her clothing.

"I'm doing my best Kankuro. It would appear that my sand can't seem to take the correct shape of the key Temari has. Didn't you check her room for it?" Gaara said as he tried many various forms of the key and placed it into the lock and it didn't fit right.

"Right, like I'm checking through her underwear and personal belongings for that key. Does it look like I have a death wish?" Kankuro said sarcastically.

"It would seem so. You were the one that was eager to keep reading the book." Gaara said blandly, trying another shape of the key.

"Hey, don't pin this on me, lil' bro. You wanted to do the same thing. Maybe I should get back to her room and get the-" Kankuro stopped short of his words and saw Temari at the kitchen door.

Gaara stopped what he was doing and quickly sent his sand back into his gourd. Both boys looked guilty as charged. "Yeash, couldn't you guys wait until _after _breakfast to read the Journal?" She said annoyed. Kankuro gave a sheepish chuckle and Gaara just looked down in embarrassment.

_"Aren't I the Kazekage? I should have ordered her to read more of the journal." _He thought scolding himself.

_"Dang, caught in the act." _Kankuro thought as he sat down on the chair with his arms crossed like a little kid who got in trouble.

Temari shook her head and made a beeline towards the fridge, but not before she threw the key to Kankuro. "I'll make the breakfast, Kankuro, you read out loud this time." She said as she took out various pans to make breakfast.

Kankuro's face beamed and he took the book from Gaara-who frowned a little due to the fact that Kankuro gets to read the book first- and opened up the book with a twist of the key and turned to the page they left off at.

* * *

**_Hikaru Journal entry #4: How to Get a Sand Cat to Date you...and succeed if you can. _**

**I like blond haired woman. It's simple as that. I have noticed that I have been dating more blonds then the other girls lately, and I can't seem to help it. The tresses of different shades of gold and if they have the right shade of color for their eyes, I think they are very pretty that way. Sasori said that I probably found my preferences for girls. La-de-frickin'-da. So, since the incident with Sand Cat three weeks ago, I have been trying to pursue her into having her go out on a date with me. She would not do it.**

**Every damn time I ask her out, she rejects me. ME! Hikaru no Sabuku does NOT get rejected. Girls would do anything to get a date with me. I'm that good-looking. I've tried flowers (She hates Roses, Daffodils, and Carnations and smacked me with them). I've tried chocolates (Little devil smashed a chocolate cupcake I bought her into my face), I've tried everything in the book to ask out that girl and she rejected me. Every. Single. Time. Every time I asked her out, I get a kick to the shin, a punch to the gut, or a karate chop to the back and I would be down for the count. I would take it. Little brat. She should be lucky that I'm pursuing her. Girls would kill to be in her place.**

**Besides, Fauna would smack me with her infamous wooden spoon to death if I don't take out Karura for an apology date from three weeks ago. I'm down to my last wits. Karura is a ruthless girl. I've seen her train at training ground 23 with that huge fan if hers and she would lay waste and practically destroy the place. Of course, I was on top of a rooftop when I saw her, and she is fierce. She would do hand to hand combat with her teammates and take them out in under 10 minutes. I have to say, I'm impressed.**

**Anyways, I saw her at the training grounds again, with her kid brother. Yashamaru was one of the top genin around here in Suna. He'll be taking the chunin exams soon. Good luck to the kid, though I doubt he needs it. Back to the point, so she finished sparring with Yashamaru, I decided to go up and ask her out, only to be rejected before I had a chance to say anything. That's when I have decided that this means war…and I needed a little help and a little bit of trickery.**

* * *

"What?" Hikaru said after being rejected for the umpteenth time by Karura Kusabana.

"I said no! Seriously! Why don't you go for a bimbo of a kunoichi? I'm sure she would love to be graced by the presence of a fairy." She said giving him a cold glare that could rival the Kazekage himself.

Hikaru face-palmed himself and took a deep breath. He was at his wits end here. "Look, just one date okay? Look I'm sorry for calling you all those names, let me make it up to you." Hikaru ground out stubbornly. Unfortunately, Karura was being stubborn too.

"You can apologize by leaving me the hell alone! I don't wanna see your ugly mug around me ever again!" She shouted at him. "Come on Yashamaru. We are going home." Karura said as she turned her back on Hikaru and walked the opposite direction away from him.

Yashamaru looked at his sister before quickly running over to Hikaru and whispering, "Look, if you are trying to get my sister on a date, here's a hint: Make a deal with her. She likes to gamble from time to time." He said before starting to walk away. Hikaru stopped the young boy.

"Wait! Why do you want to help me? Don't you hate me like your sister does?" Hikaru asked confused.

Yashamaru grinned. "Nope! Actually I think you're pretty cool! Besides, my sister needs to go out on a date anyways. She's been training too much lately and I guess it's the stress of both the chunin and jounin exams that are coming up. She needs to relax from time to time anyways." He said smiling.

"YASHAMARU!" Karura shouted. "Coming Sis," He shouted back. "Think about what I said." He said to Hikaru as he took off to his sister's side.

Hikaru was dumbfounded. A deal. _"Why the hell didn't I think about it?" _He thought as he smacked the side of his face in realization.

He decided then to sit near a wooden post –one that was _not_ destroyed by the little devil's temper- and began to formulate a plan. Yashamaru said that Karura was a bit of a gambler, but he could tell that she doesn't bet money. He wasn't the sort of person to gamble anyways. He thought it was a waste of time.

He fidgeted. He needed something in his hands to keep him from fidgeting. So he took out his small gourd and uncorked it. He surged his chakra through it and out came the gold dust. He molded it into his hands and twisted it to any shape he wanted. A dog, a plant, a key, and other things he started to think about as he molded the gold dust to his will. He them molded it into himself and Karura. He cocked his head at two figurines and placed them down on the sand and studied them.

_"A deal…what sort of deal should I make with Karura?" _he thought as he moved the figurines closer together.

"Okay, think. You want to apologize, Hikaru. You've tried everything in the book from flowers to chocolates. So this is your last resort. So how to take the Sand Cat out on a date…" He muttered out loud.

He noticed the figurines closeness. Karura's likeness was a little scowl on her face and her hands were on her hips cocking to the side.

He then changed her facial expression to that of smug triumph, then to a genuine small smile. He kept it there. Then it hit him. Inspiration hit him like the fan that the she-devil used to knock him down. He felt a twitch on the side of his mouth. He smirked widely.

"Yes…that could work…" He said as his smirk turned into a cruel smile. He made the figurines go into fighting stances; his mini-me self wielding the gold dust and Karura's with her fan out and ready to swing. "Yes…_**that **would most defiantly_ work."

* * *

_**TAL21:**_Okay, so maybe i lied in a sense that i wouldn't post this until i get 5 reviews and posted it up on friday...but this chapter just screamed out to me and i wanted it up as soon as possible. I fixed up alot of the grammer and i will be doing so to the other chapters to make it flow a lot better. Not only that, i got some **REALLY **nice reviews from awesome people who enjoyed my stories. Here's a little shout out to them!

**_SpunkyPaperAngel:_ **I'm so glad that you enjoyed the story so far (You are making me blush), and it's true that his character and Karura's character is virtually non-existant! It really does make you wonder how they actually met and how they got married and so on and so forth. So it's really fun to make this story and go a bit wild with it. Not only that, look at the Sand Sibs personalities. They have to have gotten them from somewhere. So I figured that Karura would have a bit of a rebal side and a wild streak when it comes to her ninja career. So i took a bit of Temari's Personality and blew it up to the next level and BAM! As for Hikaru, (Yes, i admit, I love this charater too) I figure he could have a serious side of him (which will come up in the next chapter) which would be a bit Gaara-ish and the playboy side would be from Kankuro (Some fanfics play on his personality as a rough playboy, so i figured it could work out) and there you have him. :) As for my grammer and other things pertaning to that, it has been a while since i have written a decent story that has as much fun as this one, so i'm a bit rusty. But i have been improving quite a bit now that i have been using grammer check (Yes i have cheated) and editied some things that don't need to be there and i think if flows much more smoothly. :) Again, I'm glad that you enjoy the story and i hope you continue to read it! :)

_**TalesGameSeriesLover:**_I'm glad that you are following both stories **(****The Dead Tell No Tales **and** Wind and Sand)** and I'm glad that you are enjoying them so far! I have gotten quite a few hits on both stories so far and it's making me giddy and happy to see them skyrocket. The downside is that not very many people would review it and the feedback quality sucks (Details of opinions would help me alot and it gets the story to flow once the ideas sinks in). But **Wind and Sand **has some pretty darn good reviews and it's quite nice to see them. I hoep you continue to keep reading!

Ah, now that the shout-outs are done, i shall continue to write the next chapter and have Karura get the shock of her life. The question is...what is it? You know it has something to do with Hikaru, but what is he thinking? I shall let your minds wander of the possibilities and wait until next time! Remember! Reviews and Opinions are welcomed and Feedback is a gal's best friend! See ya next time! :D


	6. Chapter 6

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

**_Karura diary entry #6: Jounin exams and a deal made in Hell…with the Devil himself._**

****_I know Mr. fairy has been following me. Damn playboy keeps asking me out even though I threatened to chop off his manhood and feed it to the dogs. But the past couple of weeks he never once approached me. He would keep a safe distance away from me and-what I seem to think- observing me. I would keep sending glares at him and he would be smirking at me. Ooh, it's on now. Stalker. Oh! Another nickname!_

_Anyways, so I went up to him and I asked him why the hell he was following me, and he snuffed me by walking past me, LAUGHING! I don't know what he is up too, but I can bet it's not good. That stupid smug look on his face looked like he won something. Granted it looked good on him…but still, whatever he's up to, I bet he's going to ask me out again. Well if he does, I'll knee him in the groin. Yup, that'll teach him. Bwahaha!_

_I haven't really seen him for two weeks now. Maybe he backed off…or maybe it's because the jounin exams are coming up. Most of the Jounins we have are busy setting up the exams. I know because my best friend Reiko is a jounin. She says that the exams are rough, but it shouldn't be too hard to pass…as long as you pass the written exam with at least a 90% (Half the class will pass), Avoid ANBU for five days (Again, half will make it) and the third test is to fight the Kazekage. (Very slim chance)_

_Those exams are coming up. I'm actually quite nervous. You may not believe me, but I don't know if I may pass it or not. I'm quite confident in my abilities to pass the written exam. Avoiding the ANBU on the other hand may be a bit tricky, but I know the dunes better than anyone. Those who pass the first two tests will go against the Kazekage. I keep shuddering every time I think about it, but it seems like the last test has changed. When I asked one of the people who was in charge of the exam he just said that the third test is a secret._

_Why would the third test be a secret? So we won't be facing the Kazekage? That's weird. I guess I should be relieved, I mean, Sandaime Kazekage is pretty strong. So why would he NOT be the third test then? I guess I'll find out. Who knows, maybe he decided not to be the third test anymore._

* * *

Karura's heart was pounding like horses running across the desert sands. She just trained her butt off at a new training ground. Her muscles protested at the prolonged use of jutsus that she has been using with her fan -and with the sun beating down on her it's a wonder how she is not suffering from heatstroke- Not only that, the pleasure of succeeding in those jutsus rushed through her body like none other. It was a high that she loved to feel over an over again. It was like she was the only one in the world that could get to a high like that. She chuckled at herself.

Her mother would tell her, 'I wish I was more like you Karu-chan, when I was your age. I'd give anything to have that chance again.' Her mother was proud of the fact that her children were ninja.

Karura loved her mom. She felt like she can talk to her about anything. When she told her about the highs she would get from using her jutsus and having the rush of chakra spike through her body at different times, she wanted to moan in the pleasure of it all.

Her mother would tell her, "That is an all natural high for you Karura. Then again, I remember that when you took that doctor's test for you to be a ninja, he said that your chakra would spike through out your life. I think it affects you more than some people." Karura nodded to herself at her mother's words.

She sat down in by a training post, panting and smiling at her performance. The rush of her chakra was now slowing down and she wanted to get that high again, but she decided against it when her brother told her not to over do it. She could curb her 'addiction' in a sense for a while. She was enjoying the slow down rush in her body, having the sun's ray beat on her and she was just about to doze of into her dreamland when a shadow went overcast on her.

At first she thought it was a cloud, it was rare from time to time when a cloud would come over Suna, usually it meant rain was coming, but it appeared that it wasn't the case.

"Hey Sand Cat. I've got a bone to pick with you." An oh-so-familiar voice said to her.

She peaked through her eyes and saw Hikaru Sabuku. He was in the way of her sun; it made him look like a smirking angel of punishment. She frowned.

"You are in my sun. Move before I beat your ass to the ground, Fairy." She said as she balled her hand into a fist. Hikaru chuckled. It was a chuckle that said, 'How cute, now listen to me.'

She did not like that one bit. Not one bit at all.

"What do you want, Stalker?" She sneered.

Hikaru apparently decided to sit next to her and place his arm over her shoulders. She wanted to high five him, in the face, with a chair.

"Oh that hurts, listen Sand Cat, I've got a deal to propose to you and I was hoping you take it." He said moving close to her ear.

She froze at the word 'deal'. To her, it was a challenge…and she liked challenges, **_very_** much so. She eyed him suspiciously.

"What sort of deal, Sabuku?" She said with a lying undertone of excitement. Any deal or bet immediately sent her pulse racing.

He smiled. He smiled in such a way that she wanted to smack him with her fan and send him flying.

"The Jounin exams are coming up, and I heard that you will be entering." He stated. She glared at him.

"Are you gonna get to the point or do I have to beat it out of you?" She said with venom. Hikaru looked at her smirking.

"Keep that sharp tongue on hold, will you? Anyways, I'm sure you have heard that the third test of the exam was changed up." He said as he stood up and took a few steps foreword.

She looked at him distrustfully. "Yeah, so what of it? I've been hearing rumors that the third test has been canceled. It was said that the Kazekage decided to make it another written test." She said in a matter-of-factly.

Hikaru chuckled. It was then that shivers went down her spine. This was not good.

"Actually, it's true that he won't be the third test. Only because I asked to take his place." He said smiling. Karura's eyes widened. _"_

_Oh hell. You have got to be kidding me!" _She screamed in her mind.

"You? THE THIRD TEST!" She shouted, and then she laughed.

She laughed and laughed. The reason why she was laughing was that inside, she was actually quite scared, but she will never admit to it. **_Never_**. She stopped laughing and wiped tears away from her eyes.

"Okay Sabuku, you managed to get a laugh out of me. I could have sworn that you said you were to be the third test. Are you saying that we have to fight you? Ha! I could beat you to the ground in 2 minutes." She said as she got up. She felt the air around her chill a little bit. She looked up and saw that Hikaru had a serious expression on his face.

That look alone made her stop breathing for a minute. He was standing tall-and damn was he tall! About 5'9 last she checked- and it was like his presence demanded to be noticed.

It was then that she noticed, _"He actually looks good when he doesn't have fan girls hanging over him." _She wanted to smack herself.

Did she just really think that? Bad Girl! She didn't notice that Hikaru moved closer to her.

"Here's my deal Karura. The third test is to go against me. If you win, I will leave you alone. I'll even run the other way if I even catch a glimpse of you." He said with a dead serious tone. But then he smirked. "But if I win…" He said, as he got closer to her.

She was frozen. Her heart was beating in her chest and she was praying that he couldn't hear it. "If I win, Karura, you will be my girlfriend for the next 6 months." He said huskily in her ear. A pregnant silence hovered over them for what seemed like on hours on end. Until… "WHAT?"

* * *

_**TAL21: **_Dear lordie, why is it that when ever i try to make another chapter, i have an insane urge to post it? I guess i'm having really fun with this story. Because really, Karura and Hikaru are sooo freaking much fun to write. Plus, i laugh myself to death when i was reading what i wrote. And that means that i'm very pleased of how i am writing! XD Anyways,**for the people who Fave and follow, FEEDBACK MY LOVELIES! FEEDBACK IS A WONDERFUL THING! **Also i have at least 127 hits to both this story and **TDTNT **and i'm very pleased at how people are enjoying this story. I'm glad that some people enjoy them! Okay, time to get to the next chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one! :D Remember! _**REVIEWS AND OPINIONS ARE APPRECIATED! (And i'm still holding up to the 3-5 reviews per chapter still)**_Keep reading and imagining! :)


	7. Chapter 7

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

**_Hikaru Journal Entry #7: Setting plans into action (It worked!), some duties, and something unexpected falls on me. _**

**So it has been a while since I wrote in this thing, so let me tell you the details. I wasn't able to watch the Sand Cat, due to my 'duties' as Kazekage in training. Tetsu was showing me the scrolls of the history of Suna, how to work out politics with other villages, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then it was the Annual Jounin exams he wanted to talk about.**

**Like usual, I was half-listening and half thinking about which girl I should take out tonight to the Wind Dragon, a dance club, until I heard Tetsu say, "-I am thinking about snubbing the third exam. I figured that seeing that I'm getting a bit older, I'd rather not have myself go against the younger chunins that want to pass the exam. I need to focus on the village a bit more. Maybe I should change the third exam to another written exam." That was when I gave my full attention to him and spoke out. "Tetsu-sama. What if I take your place in the third exam? I have trained enough to be at your level." I said to him. This was my chance to set my plans into action.**

**He gave me a look of skepticism. He hummed a little and tilted his head in contemplation. Then I saw him smile a little. Then he chuckled at me. **

**"You think you can handle this? You may be fighting about five people every ten minutes. Think you can keep up, Hikaru?" He said with a smile. I smiled back and told him, "Of course! I am the next Kazekage after all."**

**Tetsu looked me over. "All right. If you think you can handle this…" And I interrupted him. **

**Pretty smoothly if I may add, and spoke, "I can take it, besides, you trained me. Not only that, I mean really, I'm sure I can take on a chunin." I told him with a smile…and he looked like he was holding in a laugh. **

**Tetsu doesn't laugh… he can chuckle, he can smile, but he doesn't laugh. But sure enough, he laughed. "You are doing this to ask out Karura Kusabana, right?" I have never been so dumbfounded in my entire life.**

* * *

Hikaru relished at the fury of Karura as she glared at him when he told her the deal. There was no way she could pass this up. Besides, she doesn't want him around her anymore so this was her chance.

"If I do take the deal, and if I win, _which I know I will,_ you will leave me alone for good?" She said as her teal eyes sparked with rebellion and glee.

Hikaru grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Cross my heart and hope to die." He said as he made the gesture.

"You are so on, Sabuku. I'll take you down. Even if it's the last thing I do." She said defiantly.

"And I'm looking foreword to it, Kusabana. I'm looking foreword to it." He said amused.

* * *

It has been two weeks since the deal he made with Karura. He hasn't seen her since then and has been busy working with the council to get the jounin exams up and running. This is one of the rare times when he was actually serious about his work. He was laying down ground rules and telling his fellow jounins -Did he neglect to say that he somehow managed to become Jounin Commander? He couldn't believe it himself - And was being strict about the regimen of the Exams.

He went to the ANBU headquarters to drop off papers for Denari. An older shinobi who has been serving Suna for more than 40 years, and he was proud of it. Denari was an old man, around his height and thinning brown hair trimmed with silver. He had a thick scar from the left side of his eye to the right side of his chin. Many believed that he received it during the wars, but he claimed it was from other causes. Causes that he will never tell you. He was a bit on the thin side, but one can tell that he was very skilled.

Skilled enough that he heard Hikaru coming up to the door while working on a document.

"Come in, I can hear you from a mile away, you still need to work on your stealth. Don't even think about using your third eye justu either. I'll stab that thing until it's gone." His rolling voice said. The door opened reveling a smirking Hikaru.

"Dang, old man, nothing get's past you huh?" Hikaru said as he sat down across from the older man and leaned back into his chair. Denari looked up from his documents and leaned back himself.

"I assume that this is about the Second exam for the upcoming Jounins. Correct?" He said as he eyed the papers in Hikaru's arms.

He nodded. "Yup. It looked like you guys changed up on that exam." Hikaru said setting into official mode as he handed the papers to him.

Denari nodded. "Yes, it would appear that there is a high possibility of a three day sandstorm during the second exam. For the participants, it will be more about survival than evasion." He said as he looked through the papers.

Hikaru's head shot up at the mention of sandstorms. It's quite common in the desert to have sandstorms, but if there is a mission that needs to be done, it is generally held back until it passes. Sure there are some safe points in the desert to wait it out, but these are the exams! Some of the chunins are bound to die in the sandstorm. He felt a lick of concern in the back of his mind but quickly shoved it down.

"So it's both evasion and survival? What if we lose our Chunin?" Hikaru asked with a slight hint of worry. He may be a playboy, but he does care about the well being of the village and it's people.

The older man shrugged. "We have Sensory ANBU at hand to make sure that the chunins safety is insured. Don't worry; they will keep watch over them. It'll only make more pressure on the chunins to hide more efficiently. Stealth is key in the ninja world. If you can't master it even in the worst of storms, you will die. That is what the chunins will learn in the second exam." Denari said wisely.

Then he smiled as the facial expression on the future Kazekage's face. "Do you know someone who is going into the exams?" Denari smiled.

He noticed that Hikaru gave him frown. "No. I don't. Have a good day Denari." He huffed as he stood up and left.

Denari smiled and chuckled to himself. "It's a girl. Defiantly a girl."

* * *

Hikaru was walking down an alleyway. His mind was lost in thought as he was planning some things about the final test. He should probably train a little more before the time comes. He can't wait to face the little Sand Cat.

"The question is: How am I gonna take her down?" He mumbled to himself.

He turned another corner and he felt like he was being followed. He turned around and looked down the empty alleyway. Nothing was there. He extended his chakra senses to see if there was anyone there. He didn't realize it, before it was too late.

A shadow descended on him with and unearthly squeal of "HIKARU-KUN! ~"

He didn't stand a chance as a girl with short feathery neon pink pixie hair* with a wide childish expression crashed on him and falling to the ground. She was on his back and he was face down in the ground. The girl looked around in confusion.

"Hika-kun? Where'd you go?" She asked in a high soprano voice. "Chiyako, get the hell off of me." Hikaru groaned as he bucked her off his back. She fell in a wave a giggles.

"Sorry Hika-kun! Torao and I were looking for you! We haven't seen our teammate in like, EVER! We were trying to find you and you disappeared from out sights and then we found you again!" She gestured loudly. She was flailing her arms in excitement, smiling like a maniac and jumping like a jackrabbit.

That was when he heard another voice. "Yo! Hikaru! I see that Chiyako found you again. What she do this time? Glomp you to death?" Hikaru turned his head back and saw a brown haired man walking toward him. Both people were his old teammates.

Chiyako Koyūbi was around average height with green eyes with childish features with a little pink star was by her right eye, her skin was a light bronze. She was on her tiptoes with her hands behind her back and smiling widely. She was wearing short ninja shorts with knee-high brown boots laced up tightly and her ninja pouch was wrapped around her left leg. She was also wearing a mesh elbow length shirt underneath her tight pink tank top, and fingerless gloves. Her Suna headband was wrapped like a choker around her neck. Her personality was like a child hyped up on sugar. She was strange, yes (Maybe dropped on her head when she was a kid), but she had a good heart. Though Hikaru wondered if she was a psychic with a brain problem.

The brown haired man, Torao Kaijiyama, was his height and tanned. His hair was ruffled in a bad boy cut, and he had brown eyes that held a slight bit of mischievousness in them with a little bit of rebel in them. He was wearing the standard male shinobi outfit, brown flak jacket and a Suna headband on his forehead. He had a scar across the front of his neck from when they were young genin and he received a quick slice across the neck. He was lucky to be alive and even luckier that he still has his voice. His personality was like a gangster, but he has a soft side that he doesn't show often.

Torao smirked at Hikaru. Hikaru got up and punched him in the arm.

"You Jack ass. You knew Chiyako found me and you didn't do anything to stop her." Hikaru frowned. Torao laughed at him.

"Yeah, I just had to you know? It's been a while since we saw each other and we figured that you need a pick me up." He said as he placed his hands in his pockets.

Chiyako giggled madly. "You have been cooped up in the council room with those stiffs and you haven't been around. We were lonely. Also, I see that people are watching us as if we were a movie too! You have to do something to move this plot along!" She said in a childish voice, looking around smiling as if someone was watching them.

Hikaru rolled his eyes as he ignored the last comment Chiyako spurted.

"Unlike _you _guys, I actually have things to do. Besides I'm next in line-" Hikaru started. "For Kazekage." Both of his teammates said finishing his sentence.

"Pft. Kazekage, schmashebaze, who gives a crap? We need to spar! The people need ACTION!" Chiyako said with gusto.

Torao smiled along with her. "Yeah, and you know the rules. Loser has to pay for dinner. I'm sure you have the budget to feed Chiyako and myself." He grinned slinging an arm around Hikaru's shoulders. "You know how Chiyako eats." He said slyly.

"Yup! I eat and eat and don't gain a pound!" She said wrapping and arm around Hikaru's waist.

He sighed. "There's no getting out of this huh?" He said trying to keep a straight face.

Torao pushed him. "Hell naw! I know you have been seeing some girls at night, so you must have time to spar with us. Now get your ass moving and lets go to ground 8 and spar!" Torao shouted and walked in the opposite direction.

Chiyako turned back to Hikaru and said, "You better spar with us! Readers will be sad if you don't!" She waved over to him. Hikaru wondered how he ended up strange teammates.

_**TAL21:**_Yeash, i think i'm on a roll here! :) So you get to see a bit of a serious side of Hikaru in the politic world of Suna, and you may be seeing more along the way! And you got to meet his teammates! YEA! I figured that he must have some crazy teammates to get to where he is now in the story. and breaking the fourth wall is fun sometimes. XD And a fight scene is coming up! So what do you think? What will go on in the next chapter that you think will happen? Will he win a spar with his teammates and save money? Or will something else happen entirely? Bwhaha! YOu have to wait! Also, * -this means additional information. Chiyako's hair is similar to Sui-fon's hair in Bleach plus the braids and gold hoops at the end of them. As for her personality, I sort of went Pinkie Pie on this, because Hikaru needs an extra dose of insanity! And Torao is a bit of a mystery, but i can say this, He and Hikaru will be facing off in the next chapter. YEA! :D

Anyway, i hope you enjoyed this chapter and _**REVIEW AND FEEDBACK! It keeps this story going!**_Remember to keep reading and imagining! :D


	8. Chapter 8

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

Kankuro stopped reading as Temari placed breakfast in front of him and he placed the book down and dug in. Temari was shaking her head; she was at a loss for words. She never realized that her dad would be such a playboy, but he defiantly had good teammates to level him out. She remembered Yashamaru telling her some stories about the strange pink haired kunoichi and the fire wielding Shinobi. Chiyako was killed in the Third Shinobi War. How she died, she didn't know. Torao on the other hand, she barely remembers him. He was killed trying to contain the Shukaku within Gaara when he was 6 years old.

Gaara wasn't eating, he was just staring at the open book. "Gaara, you have to eat. You won't be able to have the energy to work today if you don't eat what I made you." She said frowning a little.

Gaara looked up with pleading eyes. "Can I read next?" He said hopefully.

Temari chuckled. "Okay, okay, you can read next, just make sure you eat your food before it get cold." She said smiling at her little brother.

Kankuro spoke with after he swallowed some scrambled eggs.

"Here lil' bro. You can read it now. All this reading is just making me hungry." He said as he pushed the open book to Gaara and dove back into his meal again. Gaara took the book and looked at his siblings expectedly.

"Well read! We have some time before work." Temari said as she took a bite out of her pancake. He nodded and read the next entry.

* * *

**_Karura Journal Entry #9: My family and best friend try to help me, and a shirtless fairy is NOT what I needed._**

_Ugh! I absolutely **HATE **and **LOTHE **Hikaru Sabuku. I pretended last night, that my dinner was him and I attacked that thing like a hungry wolf. At least that's what Dad told me. My mother was eyeing me like I was some strange exhibit at a museum. Yashamaru on the other hand, he took my anger as a sign to get out of the house._

_My dad decided to calm me down, like he does with his recovering alcoholic patients, but that didn't work. I just blew up in his face a lot and he just sat there with a blank face. _

_Then he said, "You got your temper from somewhere in the family, and it wasn't from me." He laughed after a couple seconds and ruffled my hair telling me that I will figure things out. _

_My mom tried to get me into gardening and cleaning around the house…that worked… for about three days. I got too frustrated and accidently destroyed a plant and I broke a couple things in the house…like Great Grandma Keya's Ashes._

_Grrr! Ever since I sealed that deal with the Fairy, I have become irritable. My anger was through the roof and I'm pretty sure that it was not healthy. So, I made sure I trained from early in the morning to late at night. I will beat him! Some people were smart to get out of my way or they will be on the receiving end of my foot._

_Reiko was the only one who can stand up to my anger and try and soothe me. "You have got to relax." She said. "Let's go to the spa! You need some 'Me' Time!" She said. Well going to the Silver Sand Spa was actually quite relaxing –Even if there were some pains to it-. Reiko paid for the whole thing, even though I told her that she didn't have to, stupid, rich, best friend. That's right. She's rich. She is actually the daughter of a silk merchant here in Suna._

_Anyways, yes, it was very nice. I got a massage (Apparently I was really tense, You don't say?), a clay bath (Okay, I'm thinking about coming here more often for that), and my hair was trimmed up (and they somehow tamed it to make it really smooth and flow-y…I guess I could live with that) and apparently Reiko thought that I need my eyebrows and legs waxed. That was the most painful part. I swear, give me a suicide mission any day, because waxing is PURE torture. (I think half of Suna heard my threats of death to Reiko, she was laughing the whole time.) At least they put on cooling peppermint lotion on after words. It was really nice. Then came my worst enemy (Besides Sabuku)._

_A manicure and pedicure, I DID NOT want that! I swear Reiko is trying to torture me, but I did it anyways, at least some of the calluses on my hands and feet were taken care of. Some of the girls that were working on me were trying to find nail colors that were 'right' for me. Some suggested purple (I like that color, but not enough to put on my nails) to red and even green. Finally I spoke saying teal and black. So they did those colors. They put black on my toenails (They even added little fan stickers on my big toes, which I thought was…kinda cute, I guess.) and teal on my fingers. I have to admit…it was nice being a regular girl for once. No missions, no 'Fairy', just my best friend and me. She was right; I needed to relax for the time being._

_Anyways, we were walking down the street and I swore I got more looks that a famous movie actor. I got a little antsy and told Reiko that we should train. She started to bitch about that we would break our nails and I gave her the 'I don't give a shit' look. She gave in and we went to training ground 8._

_That was the BIGGEST mistake of my life. Hikaru Sabuku was there. Shirtless. Fighting another shinobi. Aw damn._

* * *

"Whoa! Would you look at that piece of man!" Reiko shouted.

Karura grabbed her friend and dragged her to hide behind a –conveniently placed- rock and slapped her hand over Reiko's mouth.

"Are you CRAZY? Are you TRYING to doom us?" She whispered harshly at Reiko.

Reiko licked Karura's hand and she let go. "Gross." She said wiping her hand on Reiko.

"Girl, ever since you made the deal with 'THE' Hikaru Sabuku, you have been angry as ever. Now you usually jump at the chance to rip him a new one, but you just grabbed me and we are now hiding behind a rock. I think you like the guy." She said grinning. Karura gave a 'Not a snowflakes chance in Hell.' look.

"You have got to be kidding me. I hate the guy with every fiber of my being. What possessed you to think that I like that cocky, arrogant, and rude, playboy?" Karura seethed.

"Honey, call this observation. You want to beat this guy right? Now put on your big girl panties and let's watch two, hot, Suna shinobi fight, okay?" Reiko said as she peered over the rock and started to watch the guys spar. Karura relented and rolled her eyes.

"I swear, you are guy crazy." She muttered as she peered over the rock as well.

She had to admit; Hikaru was pretty damn fit without his shirt. His ivory skin already had a light sheen of sweat dripping off his body. The other guy was shirtless as well, but she paid no mind to him. She was focused on her enemy. The Fairy. His eyes were concentrated on his partner with a fierce determination. His fighting stance told Karura that he was using Taijutsu, so this was a Taijutsu match.

He suddenly took out a kunai, as did the other guy, and both clashed in the middle of the Training ground. Karura could hear the words being spoken between the two.

"Hey Hikaru, can you feel the 'Heat'?" The other guy said as he shoved himself back and did a few hands signs and blew a ball of fire at Hikaru.

Hikaru was surprised, but regained himself as he dodged the balls of fire that were shooting straight at him. He dodged left and right and just when he couldn't dodge another one, he swiftly took out his small gourd of gold dust and uncorked it and made a thick shield of it to take the blow of the fireball.

"Torao! That's cheating, you Jackass! No Ninjustu!" He shouted with a wave of his arm parted the gold dust into two separate swirling pillars of gold.

He had an annoyed look on his face. The other guy, Torao, just shrugged and grinned.

"Hey! In the Ninja world, nothing is fair. Didn't you tell me that once?" He shouted back as he prepared another attack. Hikaru took another fighting stance, the dust moving along with his actions. The dust moved as if it was an extension of his body, yet entirely separate from him, as if it was a loyal dog.

Karura was anticipating his moves, until a high-pitched voice popped up behind her and Reiko almost scared them out of their clothes.

"HI! ARE YOU HERE TO SEE HIKA-KUN AND RAO-KUN FIGHT?" She said with a wide smile.

Reiko and Karura looked at each other in fear then stared at the pink haired girl in front of them. Reiko was the one who spoke up first.

"Oh yeah, we wanted to see them fight, right Karura?" Reiko smiled at her.

"Uh, no. We were just leaving. See ya." Karura said as she grabbed Reiko by the wrist and tried dragging her off, but the pink haired girl wouldn't have it.

"You have to stay! The good part is coming up! Don't you wanna beat Hika-kun and win the deal in the exams?" She said and she grabbed their arms and pulled them back to the rock.

Karura shook her off. "I can beat him on my own, and how did you know about the deal I made with the Fairy?"

The girl turned her head back to her and gave her an expression of pure 'What'? Them she smiled.

"Come on silly, you have to see him fight. It's awesome!" She said as she perched herself on top of the rock.

Karura turned to her friend, only to find nothing there. She looked back up to the rock and saw her sitting next to the strange girl stating,"Hey, I'm not complaining. Just as long as there's a hunk of man in my sight, I'm happy." Reiko said as she crossed her legs and watched the fight.

Karura shook her head and face-palmed. "Why must I have a boy crazy best friend? And why am I even friends with her?" She muttered as she too climbed up the rock and sat down.

The fight was getting heated -if you will excuse the pun- as Hikaru was taking all the fire jutsus head on. He was moving fast with the gold dust protecting him from every attack. Then he got close to Torao and gave him a punch to the stomach, but Torao faked it and twisted around lifting a leg to slam Hikaru into the ground. That didn't work because the gold dust shielded him from the blow and shoved Torao away from him.

Both boys jumped away from each other and glared, it was time to stop playing around. Karura suddenly felt her heart stop. A slight trickle of fear went down her spine. She could barely hear the pink haired girl squeal in glee.

"Ooooh! They are getting serious! Something is going to go down!" She said wiggling in her seat.

Karura paid no mind to the girl. She could see the seriousness in Hikaru's eyes. The black lines around his eyes became more prominent, more…mysterious to her. The gold dust around him started to condense into streams of gold swirling around him.

Torao grinned. "You ready to take it up a notch?" He said as he rolled his neck and made a few hand signs.

Hikaru smirked. "Only if you are willing to give up after I beat you to the ground." He said as he reached out his hand to take hold of some of the gold dust and molded it into a kunai.

Karura analyzed this in her mind. Due to the properties of gold and the density of it (and Hikaru's Kekkai Genkai), he could mold the gold into anything he wishes and use it, but something was buzzing through her head. Why a kunai? What was he planning?

Torao made the first move and let off a multitude of fireballs toward Hikaru. He in turn, dodged the fireballs narrowly, but then a stray fireball hit him. Karura let out a small gasp. The fireball then exploded and Hikaru blasted out of the explosion and threw his gold kunai at Torao and exploded in front of him, sending him back 20 feet, but he recovered and took off toward Hikaru with kunai armed. Hikaru quickly created another gold kunai and blocked the attack on him and pushed him back. Both ninja clashed, sending sparks into the air.

"Da-yum! Now this is what I call a spar!" Reiko said as she shook Karura a little.

"See Girlie? I told you it's a good thing we stayed." She said again turning back to the fight.

"Oh, you haven't seen nothing yet, Hika-kun and Rao-kun are just getting started! It's been a while since they sparred with Hika-kun's duties as Kazekage in training. I wonder who's going to win!" The hyper girl said giggling.

Karura couldn't help but keep staring at the fight. It was very complicated. Both Shinobi were obviously high class. The cocky playboy that Karura thought she knew wasn't so cocky when he fights. The gold kept swirling around him blocking some of the attacks that were aimed at him and he would strike back with gold kunais that nearly grazed his opponent. It was a dangerous dance that she could get caught up in if she wasn't on her toes when she faces him in the Jounin exams. He was shirtless, yes, she knew that, but apparently…Reiko was right for once. The Fairy did have a pretty damn good body. The sweat on him only enhanced that fact.

_"I'm never admitting that he has a good body out loud. That is a secret that I'm taking to the grave._" She thought darkly to herself. An explosion sounded throughout the area and sand and wind blew around the three girls, all yelped in surprise.

When the explosion settled down, the girls opened their eyes…and couldn't believe what they saw. Karura was sure to get mental therapy for this.

"I think I'm going crazy." That was the last thing she said as Hikaru and Torao walked toward them with small smirks on their faces.

"Hey Sand Cat. Enjoy the show?" He said grinning like he won a prize. Karura was sure that she had never flushed so darkly in her entire life.

* * *

_**TAL21:**_i literally had to think a fight scene through and i think i did well on it! If i were you, i would listen to Limp Bizkit -'Rolling' while Hikaru and Torao duke it out. And Yes, A shirtless Hikaru and a flustered Karura. Most likely she will retort something degrading. But really, you didn't see this coming. And The beginning of the entry for Karura, i figure she would have a girly-girl best friend that would drag her to places. And I'm not that big a fan on mani's but i do like pedi's. Mani's take too much care. XD So what do you think Hikaru did while Karura was lost in thought? What will he say about Karura's _slight change _in appearance? And What do you think will happen in the next chapter? let me know! XD **Also, i have been getting more reviews and hits on _W__ind and Sand _than _The Dead Tell No Tales. _But good stories overall. **Remember! Feedback and opinions are welcomed! Keep Reading and Imagining! :)


	9. Chapter 9

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

**_Hikaru Journal Entry #10:_** **_I must be crazy if I'm thinking that The Sand Cat is pretty. Yeah, I need my brain checked, and looking for trouble was not on the top of my list either._**

**So the spar turned into a full-on fight with Torao. He has a tendency to take simple things like a spar to a full-blown fight. I didn't mind that. It just helps me train a bit harder to get to the next level. Though I was not expecting Sand Cat sitting over to where Chiyako was. I had to be careful. The fight was getting serious and I couldn't exactly afford to get distracted. But it didn't hurt to take a peak at her. **

**Just when I was about to take a short observation of her, a stray fireball hit me; luckily I had a thin layer of gold covering me before it impacted. It was hot, but hey this is the desert, we have to adapt to our situations. I took the opportunity to take out a paper bomb and quickly wrapped it around the kunai and threw it at Torao. He didn't know what hit him. Ha ha. I'm so funny.**

**Anyways, after we both clashed in the middle of the training ground, we pushed each other away and started just attacking each other head on. I noticed sparked flying off every time we strike each other. I'm pretty sure Torao know this as well and I'm pretty sure we both set off the same plan.**

**I made another gold kunai and attached three paper bombs to it, and I threw it straight towards him, he did the same thing. BUT…when the kunais collided it made an explosion. Luckily, Ground 8 was one of the larger training areas so it wouldn't disturb the closer civilian areas. The explosion kicked up a storm of sand and wind. I know for a fact that Torao hit the ground before I did. So I won the battle. We met up and walked toward the girls. Torao gave me a punch. "I won, you know." He said grinning. I shook my head and told him "Fat chance." **

**Of course it didn't help that we were practically shredded (Well, speaking the truth, we both had rips and tears on our pants, men fight rough, what do you expect?) And the look on Sand Cat's face was priceless. I wish I had a camera to take that picture, but I shall commit it to memory. She looked different then the last time I saw her. She had a bit of make-up on (after dating multiple girls, I know if they have make-up on or not.) It brought out her natural colors and her storm teal eyes looked really nice to stare at. Not that I'm interested, she's not really my type.**

**She also had a change of outfit. She wasn't wearing the sand colored baggy, two sizes too big, hand me down ninja clothes she got from the cheapest place in Suna (You have to admit, there are better options than going cheapsies.) But it really brought out her figure. She was wearing black mini-shorts and black ninja shoes (it made her legs look longer…and slender…and, okay I'm stopping now.). Underneath her chunin vest, her top was an off the shoulder tight black long sleeve shirt over a mesh undershirt. It turns out that she actually has a rack, a pretty decent one too. About a mid B-cup (I'm a guy, what do you expect?) and she had her ninja tools with her too. That fan of hers was strapped to her back and her ninja tool pouch was on her left leg. I also noticed that she had nail polish on her (bandage covered) hands and toes. Huh, I never figured her as a girly-girl.**

**She looked attractive for once (Not that she doesn't look pretty… I need my head checked; I must have sand in my brain if I think she's pretty.) Her sand gold hair took me off guard as well. I actually like it down than it up in a ponytail. I couldn't help but smile at her as her mouth dropped open and I saw red flush across her face. Oh this is going to be fun. I can't wait to beat her in the exams. Karura Kusabana, you will meet your match...if i survive that is.**

* * *

Hikaru, Torao, and the girls were in a booth at a small teashop. The boys were sitting across from the girls, who were chowing down on some food that the boys bought. Hikaru had an annoyed look on his face.

"So why am I paying for the food? I could've sworn that I won the spar." Hikaru hissed glaring at his pink haired teammate.

Torao had an equally annoyed look on his face. "Hey bro, don't feel bad, you and I are in the same boat." He said as his facial expression saddened as he took out his little pouch for money.

It was deflated. "My months worth of money is now going into food for THREE girls. Not one, not two, but THREE!" He exclaimed as he clutched his head and banged it to the table.

Reiko, Hikaru learned the name from the Sand Cat, spoke up. "Well, Pinky here declared that you both fell onto the ground at the same time, so…you both lost and you HAD to buy us food." She said as she ate a tail of grilled lizard.

Hikaru frowned. "Yeah, buy 'Chiyako' food. I didn't agree on paying for you and the Sand Cat here. You just tagged along." He said as he turned his glare to the blond haired kunoichi across from him.

She had her eyes closed as she was eating her chicken dumplings with sweet and sour sauce. He felt a sharp pain at his shin area and he clutched it as he glared once again at the girl in front of him.

"Shut up, your salary is bigger than the rest of us, so really this is nothing." Karura said as she popped a dumpling in her mouth.

She kicked him. She freaking _kicked _him. "Yeah, my salary. You think I'm made of money?" Hikaru growled. Karura opened one eye in annoyance.

"Well, you have the money to take other girls to clubs, so this should be commoner's play then." She said as she closed her eye.

Hikaru smirked. "What? Jealous much? Do you want me to take you there to have a good time?" He said as he placed his palm against his head. Another sharp pain went through his other leg. _"Damn she kicks hard!" _He thought in agony in his mind.

"Me? Jealous? You have got to be joking. Why would I be jealous of **YOU **of all people? I'd soon rather suck a dead dog's nose than to go to a club with you." She said with acid lacing her words.

_"Yeash, her tongue is defiantly a force to be reckoned with." _He thought as he regained composure from the kick to the shin.

Torao laughed. "Wow, what a comeback. Hikaru, she got you beat." He said as he slapped a hand on his back. He gave a sarcastic laugh. "Funny. Well, Sand Cat, you don't have a choice once I win the deal you and I made." Hikaru smiled at her.

She gave him a biting glare. "I will beat you if it's the last thing I do, Fairy!" She said as she got another well-aimed kick to the same shin she kicked the first time.

He literally bit his tongue to swallow down a yelp. "I doubt it." He muttered. Chiyako laughed at Hikaru. "Fairy! What a nice new nickname. Better than Goldilocks that's for sure." She said as she finished her dango.

Hikaru wanted to smack Chiyako, but… he was raised better than that. Plus Fauna would hit him with her infamous wooden spoon if he did any of the sorts. She doesn't care if you are a high level jounin or not, if she hears something about you and it's true and it makes you look like an idiot, she will smack you.

Karura giggled. It had a nice light tone in Hikaru's ears, but he shrugged it off. "Goldilocks? Ha! Now that's a classic." Karura smiled.

Hikaru face palmed. Torao let out a snigger. "Yeah, about that nickname, didn't you get that after you had a run-in with a couple of rogues?" He said slapping Hikaru on the back.

Hikaru glared at Torao then looked at Karura. She had a genuine look of curiosity on her face. He might as well tell her.

"Eh, a few years back, when I was a little punk-ass Chunin I got into some fights with the local gangs in the lower east side. Got my ass kicked too many times down there until I decided not to fight down there anymore. They called me Goldilocks. Personally, Fairy is a better nickname then Goldilocks." He said as he leaned back into the booth.

Karura couldn't help but laugh. "Is that were you got those scars on your chest? Ha! I thought you got them on some sort of mission." She said as she ate her grilled salamander. Hikaru frowned. The girl didn't know what she was talking about. He got those scars from the Kazekage himself.

The shop was about to close so the group went outside. Chiyako hugged Hikaru to the point where he couldn't breathe.

"See you later Hika-kun! Have fun, but not too much fun! Don't get hurt!" She said as she skipped away humming a nonsense tune.

Torao bumped fists with Hikaru and smiled. "Hey, I want a rematch next time, and you better show me more than what you threw at me today." He said as he placed his hands behind his neck. Hikaru smirked.

"Oh don't worry, next time I'll beat you in a fair fight." Hikaru said as he punched his comrade's arm. He then turned to Karura and lifted an eyebrow. "Where's your friend?" He asked as he was fighting a smile.

"What do you mean, she's right…" she said as she pointed to a straw person with a note on it. She read it and she growled.

"That little. Some best friend she is. Leaving me here. Fine I'll go home alone." She said to herself as she tossed the paper aside. He picked up the note and it said:

_Karura,_

_So sorry for ditching you, but I had to get home as soon as possible. Daddy dearest wanted me home before dark to help him carry a new butt load of silk that came in today. Have fun! __J_

Hikaru chuckled. He looked back up and saw Karura walk off ahead of him. Knowing that he hated women walking home by themself – Fauna beat that concept into him at a young age- he walked up right beside her.

"I'll walk you home." He said as he placed his hands in his pockets. He felt a glare aimed at his head.

"I can take care of myself, Fairy. I don't need you to walk me home." She said as she walked a little bit faster. He kept up with her.

"Look I know that, but the gentleman side of me is saying walk you home. So you don't' have a choice in the matter, Sand cat." He said as he smiled at her. She stopped and faced him.

"How would a rude and cocky playboy like yourself have a 'Gentleman' side. Don't make me laugh." She said as she poked him in the chest and she decided to run off.

Hikaru sighed. "This woman is going to be the death of me." He muttered a he took off after her.

She looked back at him and a deep frown was etched in her expression. She apparently decided to try and lose him by taking corners and short cuts to lose him.

Hikaru smiled. _"She's trying to lose me. Well sorry Sand cat, I specialize in the pursuit jutsu. So you can't exactly lose me." _Hikaru thought.

He was on her tail the entire way. She was screaming at him to leave her alone.

"Leave me alone, Tinkerbelle!" She shouted back to him.

"Hell no! I won't let a girl like you walk home. It would be rude of me to let you do so." He said back to her.

"WHAT! A girl like me! I can take care of myself! I'm a freaking Kunoichi! I can hold my own!" She shouted back angrily.

"I know! But I'm still walking you home!" He said smiling.

It was at that point he felt familiar chakra signatures. He looked around where he was at and cursed himself. The little brat took a completely different direction and was in the Lower East side. He stopped playing around and caught up with her and grabbed her by the waist and clamped his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming bloody murder. They dropped into an alleyway and he pushed himself against a wall and keeping Karura close to him. She bit his hand but he was filled with adrenaline and he didn't even notice that she bit him. He felt her trying to thrash around but with cold, clipped words from his mouth she stopped moving.

"Be silent, you idiot! You were trying to lose me, but you completely dragged us into the Lower East side of Suna. Be quiet!" He said coldly. He peeked around the corner and saw a gang of people.

He felt his face go into a cold hard mask. He looked down and Karura and whispered harshly. "Listen to me. I will let you go if you promise not to scream and run off. Got it?"

Karura's teal eyes widened at the sudden personality change, but nodded. He slowly let her go and pulled her to the side of him and he kept his eyes on the group of people. He knew that this was a gang of mid-level shinobi.

"What the hell are you doing?" Karura whispered.

Hikaru pulled himself back from the corner and looked at Karura coldly. He saw her stiffen at his gaze.

"You lead us into the Lower east side. This is the SLUMS. Karura. This is where generally the lowest stay." He said as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her the opposite direction.

"The slums? I haven't been in this part of Suna." She said nervously. Then she glared at him. "If you haven't chased me, we wouldn't be in this situation." She said with venom.

Hikaru stopped and he felt her slam into his back and he turned around and pushed her to the wall and placed his arm over her head. He realized at this time…she was really short. She looked at him with defying eyes.

"Look, if you accepted my proposal of walking you home, we wouldn't be in this position." He said with equal venom. Her eyes widened at the sudden tone of his voice.

He heard something behind him and he cursed softly.

"Listen to me, no matter what happens, run north as fast as you can." He said as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him running down the alleyway.

"What? Hey you can't tell me what to do. Besides, I can handle myself, whoevers coming after us; I can kick their ass to the moon. LET ME GO!" She shouted and tried pulling her wrist back.

But that effort went to crap as she smacked into Hikaru's back again. "Crap." He muttered. "Run, now, or I will stalk you for the rest of your life and the deal is off." He said as he pushed her back.

He looked back to her. "Run Karura." He said as the markings around his eyes darkened.

She hesitated but put one foot back and then the other.

"Don't turn around Karura, keep running north." He said as he turned around. He could hear her retreating footsteps and he could feel her chakra getting fainter.

"Hey Goldilocks. Been a while since you can around here."

He opened his eyes and saw a group of men in front of him. The leader was the son of a councilman in the Kazekage's meetings. The last time he fought him was about 6 months ago…but he got off easily. Now that he's back in the slums…he's going to get it. He took out his kunai and got into a defensive position.

"Whoa, slow down there, Goldie, we're all friends here…but you are not. Didn't you get our warning from the last time you can here? Looks like we have to teach you a lesson again." He said as he punched his fist into his hand.

_"You know what sucks about my situation…I can't even fight offensively. Only defend myself." _He thought cursing himself.

The last thing he knew was when he was being rushed at in many directions and blacked out.

* * *

_**TAL21:**_Oh my GOSH! A little bit of Hikaru's past has caught up with him, and Karura took off with out a fight. What will happen in the next chapter? Will Karura run back or will she not show up? Or will something entirely different will happen? Anyways, the Slums in Suna are a bit different then the ones in the real world. The houses and homes are similar to some of the homes in the higher levels in Suna. But the houses are smaller and more rickety and pretty much dangerous. You have to be at least Anbu level to enter there if you were to enter there, or at least have an in with drug lords and other hidden organizations in Suna. This subject will pop up later in future chapters. Anyways, the tension is rising and the Jounin exams are coming up. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter! In this story, **Wind and Sand **is getting more reviews than **The Dead Tell No Tales. **So give it a chance and leave _**FEEDBACK AND OPINIONS! THEY ARE A GAL'S BEST FRIEND! :)**_Remember to keep on reading and Imagining!


	10. Chapter 10

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

The Sand siblings spent the rest of the day with meetings and such. Temari was dealing with some government officials from the Wind Daimyo's palace, something about trying to turn Suna into a better and safer place to be at, such as turning it into an Oasis of sorts. Indeed, she was thinking that Suna should have some sort of greenery around Suna…but she was slightly worried about that kind of change.

"It is for the best though. Since the war, the economy has improved, but not enough to keep Suna up on its feet." She said to herself as she walked down a hall thinking of the many possibilities and opportunities that the changes will bring.

Temari, after she finished her meetings, went to meet up with her Gaara at the Kazekage office. Kankuro was at the council meeting. He is part of the Suna council along with their old sensei, Baki. Last she heard from them was when the council wanted to deal with the water problem. The wet season was coming up soon. Around three months per year in the desert will the rains come. Some heavy rains will come down like hail, others light drizzles. The thing about wet seasons is that they are quite spastic in the desert. Luckily, Suna's reservoirs are quite large, but in order to make an _oasis _they have to make the reservoirs a lot larger. Which would put some strain on Gaara, who would have to find a place to put all the extra water. Temari sighed. This was going to take some time.

She opened the door to the office and saw Gaara behind his desk. He was currently busy signing and writing documents. Behind him was his sand acting as a few extra hands placing things into files and shelves. The last secretary retired and he has yet to find another one. She shook her head. He was going to wear himself out at this rate.

Gaara was finishing the last of some documents and placing it aside. He sighed in relief that he finished all 237 documents in one day. He then smirked a little. He wondered if Naruto is willing to take care of all paperwork when he becomes Hokage. He looked up and saw his sister there with her hand on her hip. He stared blankly at her. She had a slightly irritated face on.

"Come on Gaara. We are going home." She said as she stepped back out to find Kankuro.

He shook his head a little and used his sand to organize things back to the way they were. After looking around the office a couple of times, satisfied with his work, he left.

* * *

Kankuro left before his siblings did. So he was home long before they got there. So he was just lying on the couch, napping away. Working with the council today was very tiring for him today. They were thinking about using the more desolate part of Suna to place a brand new reservoir there, but they were not sure about the residents that lived there would agree. The problem was to relocate them into the more modern and rebuilt North-east side of Suna, but it would be a bit pricy for them to move up there. So that's what they are trying to work out on.

Since the Wind Daimyo was willing to help out Suna since after the war, Suna took the opportunity and wanted it to come to life. Kankuro wondered what Suna would be like with trees and pools and other things. Suna would be a paradise in the desert. The downside is…Sandstorms. Sandstorms that could easily blow up to 75 mph and rocks the size of a gumball to a kickball would have some serious damage to the scenery. The wet season would most likely bring a desert storm and a monsoon. You can never tell what happens in the desert.

His mind was about to wander off until he heard the front door open. "Oi, what took you guys so long? I've been here for an hour and a half, almost two hours waiting for you." He jabbed at his siblings as he sat up to see them.

"Well Kankuro unlike _some _people, we actually have work to do." Temari glared back, then she sighed. "It's been a rough day. Dealing with flirting Officials even though I'm _engaged _is really tiring. I wanted to punch those stupid idiots in the face." She muttered as she pushed Kankuro off the couch to take up the whole thing as she lay down.

"HEY!" He said as he glared at his older sister from the floor.

Gaara shook his head at his two older siblings –that were now bickering- and walked into the kitchen to find something simple to eat. He opened the fridge to find a large apple. He washed it and then took a bite out of it. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw the journal of his parents with the key on top of it. He could still hear his siblings argue as he walked over to the table and looked over the book yet again.

He picked both items in one hand and walked back out into the living room. Temari was wielding her fan and Kankuro was busy trying to avoid the thing. Gaara shook his head at them, chuckling a little bit. He sat down in the empty couch and kept watching his siblings fight as he was munching on his apple. Kankuro was making jabs about Temari being with Shikamaru –he is a good guy don't get them wrong, but even Gaara would confine the Nara in his sand coffin if he ever did anything to his older sister- and she retaliated with Kankuro dating a girl on and off and that he should get her before it's too late.

He decided that enough was enough –he finished his apple at this time- and used his sand to stop them fighting. They both gave him a look of 'why' and he rose up the book and key. Both siblings dropped their quarrels and both took a seat beside him and Temari took the book from his hand and opened it up.

"It's my turn." She said smiling forgetting that she had a fight with Kankuro.

* * *

**_Karura Journal entry #13: Well this escalated quickly. The Fairy is confusing me. He friggan' lied about me. But…why the hell would he do that?_**

_Okay so it's been 4 days since I last saw the Fairy. Tch. Like I care about what happens to him. I just went on like nothing ever happened. The Jounin exams were coming up fast and I had to keep training. I'm lacking in my Taijutsu, so I figured that I would run around about three-quarters of Suna. Mind you, I'm pretty darn good at mid-range and long-range combat, but I have a bit of trouble with close range. I remember my sensei telling me that ninja have to be versatile in all things. My strengths were basically Ninjutsu and Taijutsu; even though I hate working with Taijutsu it's very useful in a lot of things. I'm very shaky in my Genjutsu though. The best I can do is Wind Style: Slipstream. It's a kind of jutsu that would allow me to use my fan as a charger for my chakra and I would use a basic wind jutsu and flow with the wind attacking my opponent head on, but my opponent would think that clones were attacking him when in reality he was fighting only wind._

_Maybe I should use that on Fairy. I want to see him confused out of his mind. Speaking of him, while I was running today I heard snippets about him when I was passing his mini-fan club that was lounging around outside of a café. I decided to take it slow to hear what was all the fuss about. Apparently, their words not mine; Hikaru got into a fight with the local gang in the Lower East side of Suna and was currently in a coma. I rolled my eyes as the girls made a collective gasp. Then they started wailing about how horrible it was for their 'Desert Prince' to be in the hospital. I ran away before I started to hear crying from them. Gosh I hate fan girls. They literally have no life if they spend their time chasing after someone who probably won't even return their feelings. It's pathetic._

_I for one would rather have a hard working husband in the future. After I get married, he would still be working as a shinobi and I would be at home tending to the kids – after I work for a few years that is- I want my first born to be a boy. Granted most girls want a girl as their first born, but I want a boy to teach him to kick his younger sisters suitors asses from here to the moon. He would be a hard worker like his father and he would have to watch over his sisters to make sure they don't get into trouble. The little girls I'll have, I'll make sure they are also trained so if their brothers won't defend them, they can handle the situation themselves. Then after they get married and I have grandkids and my husband would retire, I would make a book about how my life went. My husband would die before me and I would live till I'm about 99 and die before I get to be one hundred. That is how I will live my life._

_Besides, I don't think Fairy would be a good 'Husband' material anyways; he probably cheats on his girlfriends more than once. I will NOT be his girlfriend not by a long shot…but still. I am wondering why he was trying to make me go away while we were there in the slums. It was as if his personality totally made a one eighty-degree turn and he was very…protective? Yeah right. I could kick anyone's ass if I put my mind to it, why would I need protection? So now that I think about it…why didn't I stay? Why didn't I fight back? I just let him drag me around. Even after I bit him he didn't respond like I though he would and his expression…_

_He became fully serious. All traces of his cockiness completely disappeared. It was as if, well I don't really know how to say it, but he had an air of authority? Yes, that exactly what I'm thinking. He had that kind of air when he was fighting with Torao. So I just left him there after he told me to run. I ran and I didn't stop running until I reached home. Mom and Dad were already in bed, and Yashamaru was up waiting for me. He has the chunin exams a week before the jounin exams. So he was a bit nervous. I didn't tell him what happened with me. I just ruffled his hair and sent him off to bed._

_But I am…curious to say the least. Was he okay? Did he fight the gang? Well he's in the hospital so I guess he did…why the hell do I care? He is my enemy. He is in no way my friend at all. I want to see him squirm when I kick his ass in the exams. Maybe I should visit him just to annoy him. Ha ha…but why do I feel guilty? Maybe I should've stayed with him… but what difference would that make? Damn it, Reiko pushing me to even consider the idea that I like the damn fairy...I'd rather eat bugs and die of poisoning._

* * *

Karura was in front of the Suna hospital. There was a frown etched on her face and she was fighting with herself in her mind. **_"You own him anyways, he did save you." _**Her logical side said. She frowned even deeper.

_"Like hell, I'll just rag on him for being an idiot. If he really is injured, then I have a bit of sympathy for him. But if he freakin' pulls anything, I'll punch him."_ She smirked evilly. Then she brushed her hair back and stood tall. She was going to show him that she wasn't a coward.

She walked into the hospital and even stopped a few times in the middle of the hallway, wondering why the hell she was here. Then she reminded herself that she was here to mock the Fairy. She smiled to herself as she pictured herself beating Hikaru in the Jounin exams. She could see it now! Her in the arena, both of them facing off. She would first start of with close combat, avoiding his gold dust jutsu, trying to trip him up and BAM! She smacks him away with her fan and he ends up in a crumpled heap as she jumps up and down with a victory sign and the 3rd Kazekage promotes her to Jounin status. Yes, she could practically taste the victory.

She was nearing he room and she was planning on to slam the door open until she heard something that made her stop.

"Damn it Hikaru, you are lucky that I found you instead of an ANBU. You could have gotten yourself killed." A voice said that sent shivers down Karura's spine.

She saw the crack in the door and peered inside. She could see Hikaru on the bed sitting up; he had a couple of bandages on his cheek and she could barely see the bandages on his arms that were splotched with blood, the same would say for his bandaged chest as well. His eyes held defiance and respect to another redheaded figure in the room.

"Sasori, I'm not that easy to kill, I just took a wrong turn somewhere. It's no big deal." He said smirking.

Karura furrowed her brows in confusion. _"A wrong turn? He was following me and practically shouting at me to walk me home. I didn't even know where I was going, I just wanted him gone."_ She thought as she frowned in distaste.

The redheaded figure, Sasori, spoke again. "Damn it. I can't always be around to save your sorry ass Hikaru. You know that the Slums are dangerous, even for you. Look at you, when I found you, you were nearly bleeding to death, and you had a poison in your bloodstream. You are damned lucky that I know how to make antidotes, or you would be dead right here, right now." Sasori said as he slammed his hands onto a nearby table.

Karura jumped at the sudden sound but listened intently.

_"He could've died…protecting me?" _She thought as she fiddled with her fingers, twisting and wringing them. She frowned at the thought.

_"I don't even like the guy! And I'm pretty sure that he hates me as well, so why the hell would he fight off thugs for me? Wait, will he tell his friend that I was there?" _She thought panicking a little.

She felt her heart rate go up and she looked into the crack of the doorway again. She didn't want anyone to know about what happen to her and Hikaru. That was a one-time deal. Running away was a one-time deal for her. Next time, she will stand her ground.

"Sasori, I thank you to taking care of me again, but really, this is nothing compared to the worst. Testu-jii's Iron Sands technique is more frightening than poison or cuts and bruises." He said flippantly and emphasizing his point as he pointed at his chest.

Sasori sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. Karura has heard of Sasori, he was the head of the puppet brigade. From what she heard, he was deadly with the puppets he made; she shook her head and kept listening.

"Testu knew how to stop when he has pushed you too far, the thugs you got in trouble with, didn't. You know if you keep this up. You will _never _become Kazekage." Sasori said with finality. Karura saw Hikaru lower his head. She couldn't see his eyes.

"I _will _become Kazekage; in order to do just that, I have to protect my precious people." He said as he looked up at the ceiling.

Then he laughed. "Being Kazekage, means to protect the people no matter what. The ones close to me that I care about I want them to be protected. The village is everything to me, but there are some things, that I will change for the better of the village." He said as he turned his head to Sasori.

His face cracked into a genuine smile. Karura's breath hitched a little. She knew that Hikaru could fake a smile and she could always tell. The smile that was on his face was soft and gentle. She could feel a blush rising. She stepped away from the door and shook her head furiously.

"I don't like that guy. I hate him. I HATE HIM!" She muttered as she balled her hands into fists and glared at the door.

She walked back to the crack and peered in again, only to hear, "Who was with you Hikaru? There was absolutely no way you would be at the Lower East side unless you were absolutely forced to. So tell me, who was with you?" Sasori said as he folded his arms.

That was when Karura froze. If Sasori found out that she went to the Lower East side with the Fairy, she would possibly die of embarrassment and maybe her rank would be pulled. She looked up the map of Suna and saw that the Lower East side was off-limits to those who don't hold the title of Special Jounin or higher. Meaning that she could kiss her ninja career good-bye. She felt her heart beat in anticipation as she closed her eyes and waited for her fate.

"Ha! You have got to be joking. Who was with me? No one. I just zoned out and just kept walking." Hikaru said as he lay back on the hospital bed. Karura eyes snapped open.

_"He…lied?" _She thought curiously.

"Yeah, explain the bite mark that was on your hand, I pretty sure it wasn't there when you left the house." Sasori said as he bumped Hikaru's head with his fist. Hikaru chuckled.

"Oh, I was trying to escort a Sand cat home when she bit me on the hand. Took off before I could do anything else." He said smiling.

Karura couldn't take it anymore. She walked away from the door and left the hospital.

* * *

"He_ lied _about me Reiko! He said that he just zoned out and got lost. Obviously Sasori wasn't buying the shit that came out of his mouth, so why bother?" Karura said as she buried her head into her best friends pillow on the bed.

Karura went straight over to Reiko's home after eavesdropping on Hikaru and Sasori. She did feel a slight bit of guilt about leaving Hikaru back in the slums, but that didn't matter anymore.

"Well girl, I hate to say it…but I think he likes you!" Reiko cooed as she batted her eyes at Karura.

She could feel the hairs on her neck stand straight up at the suggestion. She slowly turned to her best friend who had a grin on her face.

"You have got to be kidding me. He and I are RIVALS. We are ENAMIES! He hates me; I hate him, simple as that. It's a mutual hate/hate relationship." Karura said as she threw the pillow at her friend's face.

Reiko wasn't buying that excuse. Karura was blushing a bit and she knew something was going on.

"Then why are you blushing? You don't usually blush that much anyways, but I think…you are falling for him." Reiko said as she pulled Karura into a tight hugged and rubbing her cheek against her head.

Karura gave a shout of disbelief then pushed Reiko away. "I. DON'T. LIKE. HIM!" She ground out.

"It's just that…I'm confused to why he lied for me. I'm gonna pummel him." She said as she planted her fist into her left palm. Reiko lay on her stomach with a wide grin on her face.

"Girl…I really think that he likes you if he was lying for you, _protecting _you, and YOU, my dear, like him too. Face it, from what you told me, you liked the fact that he wanted to take you home, and I think it was romantic of him that he protected you when you went to the slums. Really Karura, Hikaru Sabuku may be a Casanova, but he does mean well to the woman he treats." Reiko said as she rolled onto her back.

Karura shook her head. "He probably sleeps with woman at night anyways, why would he even think of going for me. Ha! I hate him. Stupid fairy." She muttered. Reiko looked over at her friend.

Karura was obviously conflicted and in denial. Her enemy, in a sense, saved her, she never had saving before. Sure her teammates had her back when they went on missions, but this was completely different.

"Why don't you ask him?" Reiko piped up as Karura started to fidget in her seat. Karura's head snapped to Reiko. "

What?" She said in confusion. Reiko rolled her eyes.

"Karu-chan, _Ask _him why he saved you. Ask him why he told you to run. Maybe he will answer them truthfully." Reiko said as she closed her eyes.

Karura frowned. She didn't like the idea. On one hand…she didn't have to deal with people who could obviously be stronger than her –also the reason why she trained so much- on the other, it absolutely burned her pride that she was protected by her rival, but she wanted answers… and she will get them, one way or another.

"Okay…" Karura said as she shot up from the bed and walked out the door. "I doubt he would, but I will beat him if he doesn't tell me the truth. See ya later Reiko." Karura said as she left. Reiko cackled.

"She likes him. She just doesn't recognize it." She said giggling madly. She can't wait till Karura and Hikaru gets together. They would be a cute couple.

* * *

_**TAL21:**_Wow...it's has been a while! Sorry for the wait, and i hope that you guys didn't mind, i have to bang my head and scrap up a chapter for this, i got lost in the Avengers and Transformers fanfictions XD. I do have a life outside of the internet and college is a BEAST! Medical terminology, Intro to Kinesiology, and a whole bunch of other crap. But hey, that's life and i need to keep moving foreword! So...we have Karura being a bit conflicted here. She generally can save her own butt, but now that Hikaru surprised her with something she didn't expect, she is very confused. You can practically smell the denial on her. Now onto some shout-outs!

_**Emblem7799:**_It's true that some of the stories of Karura and TFK are depressing and i was like 'yeash, too much angst and drama let's spice things up a little', pluss i saw a couple of comic on deviant art about the couple and i figured, 'hey, what if they were just normal shinobi just doing their job?' that why i wanted to make this fic. XD

_**Sandydragon:**_ Well at least Hikaru isn't as damaged as you thought he would be, but don't worry, he's a tough guy, he can take heavy hits. XD

_**SpunkyPaperAngel:**_Yeah, i really like that part too. I figured that Karura would be too stubborn to let Hikaru walk her home so she would rather be a safe distance away from the guy. But Hikaru was also stubborn and he wanted to have the chance to walk her home. I thought it would be a cute scene. XD

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter won't be coming for about a month or so (It's really hard to write a story when you are in college and have work at the same time) but i promise you that the next chapter will be a lot longer than the last! So i hope you have the patience to wait! :D Also check out my other stories (If you haven't heard of them already) **The Dead Tell No Tales_,_ **and my new Transformers story, _**Silver Heart.**_So give them a chance if you have the time! _**REMEMBER! REVIEW AND FOLLOW!**__**FEEDBACK IS A GAL'S BEST FRIEND! :D REMEMBER TO KEEP ON READING AND IMAGINING! **_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

**Hikaru Journal Entry #14: In which a Sand cat confuses me, and dealing with feelings I didn't think I have. That's just great.**

** You know, I swear that I have a concussion. Four days later after I got discharged from the hospital, Testu really got on my ass. Let me tell you something. A yelling Testu I can handle. But…a quiet Testu…well, lets just say that facial expressions mean everything. He was pretty tight lipped when I was in his office. We were in his office for 25 minutes before he spoke. "You have disobeyed the council's orders, never to return to the slums, Hikaru." He said. Oh, he was quiet when he spoke that. Yup. I'm in trouble. I stood up and with a newfound courage (Wow, I surprise even myself) and went up to him and placed my hands on either side of his desk. Testu was a good guy. He'd understand. I lied to Sasori about Sand cat because well, she didn't deserve demotion, considering that Sasori does have the power to demote. She could handle her own. But the slums still are a dangerous place to be if you don't know your way around and avoiding the people that really would kill you. No matter what your status.**

** "Look. I was trying to help someone to get out of there. She went in without knowing the place. It was Karura Kusabana. Tetsu, she hasn't been around long and you know that, so I stopped her and told her to get out of there. And I got into trouble." I told him. Tetsu's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. I don't see why he's so surprised. He leaned forward on his elbows on his desk and looked up at me with a blank expression. I kept calm outside, but on the inside, truthfully I was freaking out. "Karura Kusabana…she's a chunin… you fool, you lead her into the slums?" He said evenly. I was taken aback and yeah, I got mad. "No! She was running from me and she didn't know where she was going. Look Tetsu. Please. I didn't expect to be back in the slums. To be honest, I would rather serve community service than go back there. But understand, Karura may be a hard fighter, but there was no way that she could hold her own there." I said trying to get him to see my side if things.**

** He stood up and turned around. He walked over to the large window and stared out into the village. "Hikaru, come here." He said calmly. I clenched my hands tightly as I walked over to his side. He was staring out there and beyond. "Look out this window Hikaru. What do you see?" He asked me. I was weary of what he asked me, but I humor him. I looked out the window and saw the golds and browns of Suna. I could see the dots of the people there. I didn't know what he wanted me to see. "I don't…understand. What do you want me to say Tetsu? I see a village that needs protecting. I mean, that about all I can see." I said as I looked down. What does this have to do with the sand cat? **

** I looked back up and saw him smile a bit. "You are right Hikaru. This village needs someone to protect them. Being Kazekage isn't easy. You have to keep going to meetings; you meet up with people who want your approval on paper to continue on with businesses, paperwork… but it is very satisfactory. Hikaru, you may not realize it now, but the Village depends on you and other ninja, genin, chunin, jounin, and ANBU, to protect them and keep them safe. I've tried to work with the slums, but it isn't easy to negotiate with those who live there. I often have to pay off people so that they don't take their fighting to the streets where the civilians would get hurt." He spoke. Wow…that hit deep.**

** Then he turned to me. "Hikaru, you have potential to be the next Kazekage. I would not have chosen you if you could not do this. Keep an eye out for Kusabana-san. I have read many of her reports of her successful missions. You are well on your way, but you still have much to learn." He said. I wanted to do a happy dance. He wasn't going to punish me! I'm scot-free! "But you will still sufferer the consequences of disobeying the council's orders. You will clean the entire Kazekage building." Tetsu smiled. I think I wanted to run far away now. "And that includes the bathrooms." Yup. Scot-free I am not. Fun.**

* * *

Hikaru wanted to smack his head against a pole. Not only does he have to clean the _entire _Kazekage building, he had to clean his home as well. Sasori was grinning smugly the entire time too.

"I warned you. But hey, at least you didn't get demoted. Last time the council made you work with the academy students. Remember how fun that was?" Sasori grinned. Hikaru gave Sasori a glare.

"You didn't even stop those kids from climbing all over me. It was madness!" He shouted at his cousin as he was washing the dishes. _BY HAND. _Fauna had the day off and she told him that if the dishes were not done by the time she comes back, he would have to do the dishes every day…for 7 months. He has better things to do than do chores. Like, oh, train for the Jounin exams that are coming up.

Speaking of the Jounin exams, they will be staring in three days. He was actually excited. Though he was still suffering from some muscle aches and pains from the slums, he was doing better.

_"I still have time to train a bit before I fight the sand cat." _He thought to himself.

It would be one week before the second trial for the chunin. They would have time to gather supplies for going out into the desert. Right now, they were preparing for the written test. Last week was the spying test (though the proctors never spoke it out loud that it was) for the genins and they cut that class in half. Next week they will be paired up in twos and the council managed to get permission from their neighbors from Konoha to use the surrounding forest near the border for the next test. The Chunins don't get that luxury.

Hikaru decided to split from Sasori and told him that he won't get in trouble.

"You'd better not. Testu may have let you off easily this time, but mark my words, the next screw up will most likely be your last." Sasori warned Hikaru.

Hikaru waved at Sasori, letting him know that he will be fine. He took to the roofs of Suna, parkouring freely. The winds were a bit fierce today, but that is what made it fun for him. He may be tall, but he was lean enough to flow along with the winds. He jumped off the ledge of a tall building and fell onto a clothesline and pushed his chakra to his feet for balance. He pushed off of the line and landed on the ledge of another home and kept jumping.

_"Ah, my muscles may be hurt, but this is totally worth it!" _He thought, as he took a note that his arms were a bit sore.

He stopped onto another ledge and sat down. He over looked Suna and saw that it was cloudy today. It was a rarity for it to be so cloudy. Usually there would be windstorms that provided the only shade, but for fear of getting hit by large rocks, the people would stay inside. But this type of cloudy only means one thing and one thing only. Rain. Lots of it.

When it will rain, he doesn't know. Only tha he will be welcoming the sweet relief of it. He supported himself by putting his elbows on his knees and closed his eyes. He was about to doze off until he felt a familiar chakra signature. Oh boy.

"Hey Fairy. I have a bone to pick with you." A certain sand cat's voice said.

_"Just when I was about to relax. Oh well." _He thought as he felt the chakra signature stop beside him.

He opened one eye and looked beside him. She was sitting about 2 feet away from him. She had a pensive look on her face.

After a long silence, she spoke. "So…why'd you lie about me?" She said it so carefully that he was taken aback.

"Lie?" He said. "Lie about what? I didn't lie about anything." He said in confusion.

Karura turned her head sharply at him. "YOU. Lied. You lied about me to Sasori-sama. Walking through the slums. HA! I'm surprised that he didn't question anything more about it." She said with spite.

Hikaru was shocked. "You…you heard that? Wait, you were at the hospital visiting me?" He asked genuinely surprised.

Well that was something you don't hear every day. "Yeah, so what? I wanted to punch you and maul you while you laid there, or maybe torture you with food that you couldn't have." She said flippantly.

Hikaru could see the light dust of red on her cheeks.

"Well, you know I did you a favor for lying for you. We would want a sand cat to lose her rank before her Jonin exam now do we?" He smirked.

She punched his arm. "Look, don't lie for me. EVER! I can take the consequences. Plus, when the exams are over, you **will** leave me alone and you **will **stay out of my life." She said adamantly.

Hikaru chuckled. The sand cat was very cute in his eyes. She was trying so hard to be tough.

"How about a pre-fight? You know, for a little taste of what's to come. I'll even go a little easy on you." Hikaru said slyly.

She glared at him. But Hikaru wasn't fazed.

"Why the hell do you want to do that? I'll wipe your ass into the sand." She said as she reaches back to her fan.

He shrugged. "I can take a beating. What do you say? Wanna test out our abilities?" He grinned like a Cheshire cat.

He saw the conflict in her teal eyes. Then they steeled.

"I'll take you on. 10 minutes. We fight for ten minutes." She seethed. She stood up and looked back at him, smiling wickedly.

"See you at ground eight. Slowpoke." She said as She took off like a shot. Hikaru sat there dumbfounded.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE SAND CAT!" She shouted after her. He took off and followed her up.

He was right behind her as he caught up with her and as they got closer to Ground 8, she whipped out her fan and sent a blast of wind his way, catching him off balance and sending him crashing into the ground. He pushed himself up to see her flying down on her fan and sweeping it off her feet and setting the open fan by her side. She had a cocky smile on.

"Well then…come at me Fairy." She said cocking her hips to the side.

He looked her over. She was defiantly cute when she did that. He chuckled. He wanted to bang his head to a pole.

"All right Sand cat." He said as he stood up.

He forgot the pain in his muscles as he uncorked his small gourd of gold and it flowed out in a steady stream. He flicked his wrist and it swirled around him like a protective shield.

"Let's see what you've got in a fight." He said as he got into a defensive position.

Both ninja waited. Thunder started to roar overhead. They stayed still. Waiting for the moment to strike.

A drop of rain fell and crashed into the sand. Karura made the first move and swung her fan powerfully as a gust of wind crashed right into him. He stood his ground and sent a stream of gold dust flying at her fiercely, she closed her fan, wielding it like a sword, and slashed at it. It started to pour. But the two ninja paid no mind to it. Karura got in close and slammed her fan onto his head only to see a sand clone take his place. Hikaru popped behind her to slash at her, but she defended herself with her fan. They both pushed away. Karura's hair luckily was up in a ponytail so that her wet hair wouldn't get in the way. Hikaru shook his head and smiled.

_"She's good. She could even beat me. But I won't let her do that." _He thought as she gave out a battle yell as she charged at him.

_"She's spunky. I like spunky." _He thought at he formed a golden kunai and flipped it out behind him.

She slammed the fan down and water and sand flew out from the impact.

Hikaru was up high on the wall hanging from the kunai.

"Sand cat! Focus your anger elsewhere!" He said as he pushed off the wall, slicing down with another kunai.

She backed away quickly, but she had a small bleeding cut on her left cheek. The rain was pouring hard. Hikaru couldn't use his gold dust. It was too wet to use and he took the remains of it and slipped it back into his small gourd. He took out his regular kunais in both hands. Karura noted that it was too rainy for her to even use her fan. This was a friendly match. Not an exam. If she even used her wind jutsus on Hikaru, the rain would pelt his body black and blue and may even cut him if she put her mind to it. She closed her fan and put it on her back.

They were reduced to use taijutsu and/or genjutsu. Karura took out her own kunai and steadied herself. Both ninja finally took off at each other and clashed and stayed at a crossed position.

"You know, we got to keep meeting like this." He said over the rain. Karura scoffed.

"In your dreams, Fairy!" She said as she pushed him away and lifted her leg to hit him into the side.

He took the hit and skidded a bit and ran at her again. She threw both her kunais to the ground furiously then went at him weaponless. He in a quick movement got rid of his own kunais and threw a punch.

She dodged his punch narrowly to land a hit on his shoulder and he was pushed back. He was going to pull out the big guns. He put up his arms to defend himself from her hits and kicks. Karura then went low to the ground, kicked out his legs having him fall to the wet ground. She lifted her leg and slammed it down, only to miss him as he rolled away and bounded up to his feet again. He then made a fake right and aimed for her stomach. He landed the hit and she grabbed his arm and tossed him to the ground. He saw and opening and just as she let go of his arm, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down with him onto the ground as well and pinned her down as he grabbed both of her wrists and held them over her head.

The rain was unrelenting and Hikaru smirked at his victory. Karura looked at him with such hatred and something else he couldn't describe. Passion maybe? He chuckled.

" You are good, my little sand cat, but not quite good enough. Don't worry, one of these days you'll get me, just not now." He said as he lowered himself to her face.

"You are a terrible person." She spat out.

Then her face softened. "At least you prove a challenge Fairy. Now get the hell off me before I do something horrible to you." She muttered as she tried to wiggle out from under him. Bad move on her part.

Hikaru could see, now of all times, that she was definably pretty. The way her teal eyes would show total defiance yet he could see something hidden behind that look that he wants to find. The curve of her face was slim and her wet hair was shining a dark gold. The rains, of course, made her clothes heavy and slightly see through. He could see the swell of her chest and her slim figure as it clung to her skin. Oh no. That is not good for him. His heart started to race and he could feel the heat flush on his face. Oh yeah, he finally figured it out. He likes her. He really, really likes her. She looked up at him and scowled.

"I said, let me go." She steeled. He chuckled.

"You know… you are very pretty when you aren't trying to kill me." He said, as he got closer to her.

Karura stopped moving and looked up at Hikaru with wide eyes.

"Get any closer and I will bite your face off." She said in a slightly higher voice.

He shook his head, sending water droplets flying.

"Nope, you wouldn't bite me. You've tried that already." He said as he laid his forehead against hers.

Oh yes. That made her stop moving entirely. His burgundy eyes bore into hers teal ones. Of course, both were breathing heavily from the spar. Still holding his grip on her wrists, he let go one hand, hesitantly and slowly, placed it gently onto her left cheek. He saw her eyes dilate slightly, that alone was enough for Hikaru.

"I'd do more for you, Karura," He said as he smirked her name. "But I will warn you. When you lose, I will treat you well and I'm very, very possessive." He said as he gave a smile.

He saw her lightly blush and he got off of her. The rain was still unrelenting. He gave out a hand as she was looking at the ground rubbing her wrists. She looked up and saw his hand and, shock and surprise, she took it.

"Listen up Fairy, I hate you with every fiber of my being. I _**WILL **_win that match when I face you. And when I do, you will stay out of my life. Now, I'm going home, it's friggan raining and I'd like to be dry and healthy for the exams." She said as she turned away from him.

Hikaru watched her go, his mind was going mad. Oh, he was going to have her. But little did he know, she was blushing full on as she left the grounds.

* * *

_**TAL21:**_ OMGSH! I FINALLY GOT THIS CHAPTER UP! ::Hallelujah chorus in the background!:: So collage has been a beast, but i'm hanging in there. Listen up. The next chapter will be longer, i promise! I have been preoccupied with the **Avengers** fandom and it will not let me go, oh Loki you have me in your hands!. XD But i will keep this up! Now lets go to the shout outs!

_**SpunkyPaperAngel:**_Thank you for your support! Collage has been awful, but i love it at the same time! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and i look forward to your review!

_**SandyDragon:**_ Oh yes, there will be romance coming up! Lets see how Karura reacts to it! I can't wait to write her chapter!

_**Emblem7799: **_Yes, fangirls are pathetic i know! Glad you enjoyed the last chapter and i hope you enjoyed this one! Fluff is fun to write and Reiko will want to hear every detail from Karura! Bwahaha!

Okay, now i must take off! Now if you guys liked this story, read my previews of my avengers stories! _**SHIELDS Hellhound**_ and _**Time is Running out.**_Vote for what story you want and i will write it out! Now peace off and i hope you guys loved this story! _**REMEMBER! REVIEWS ARE EVERYTHING! I WANT DETAILED REVIEWS AND I HOPE YOU GUYS WILL KEEP READING AND WRITING! PEACE OFF PEEPS! **_

_**PS: Tom Hiddleston is amazing at his work. If i make a Loki fanfic, it would be just really awesome! **_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Wind and Sand: Journal of Lord and Lady Kazekage**_

By TwilightAnimeLover21

* * *

_**Karura Journal Entry #17: NO! NO! NO! I'm not falling for the FAIRY! I hate him! And with the Jounin exams…DAMN HIM!**_

_ NOOOOOOO! This CANNOT be happening! Okay, so I called him out on lying for me and he said that he was worried about my rank, but clearly he was being smug about it. Then he had the gall to call me out on a fight…okay maybe he didn't. We both agreed to show off our skills for future reference. Seriously, I wanted to punch him. That stupid burgundy eyed, muscle toned, totally handsome…NO! I DID NOT JUST WRITE THAT! Damn and I'm writing in ink too. Okay, so maybe I find the stupid fairy attractive. It's not like I'm a fangirl. Geez, those girls I want to choke them. I will not lose to him in the exams. I refuse._

_ Well it's been a few days since I last saw the fairy. At least he had enough sense to leave me alone. I told Reiko about it…and she FLIPPED! Ugh, she asked me so many freaking questions no power in the world cannot stop her from jabbering on and on. "Did he get close to you?" Yes. "Did he jump onto you?" Yes. "Did he kiss you?" HELL NO! Gosh I don't even like the guy! I don't, I don't I don't! Then the complete out of the blue thing happened today. My mom asked me if I was seeing anyone, I didn't see what she wanted to know so I told her no, then she said that Reiko told her that I was seeing the fairy. Damnit Reiko, she wants to butcher my life! Next time I see her, I will kick her butt._

_ …But in all honesty…why does my damned heart beat fast every time I think of the guy? I mean there's nothing but mutual hate right? Right? I went to mom about this, and she told me that if there is someone I couldn't stop thinking about, if the person makes my heart beat faster than a humming bird's wings, if the person could make me blush in a way, or even the smile of the person make me happy…I like the guy…_

_ NOOOOOOO! I REFUSE!_

* * *

Karura was in her bed the day before the exams. Screaming into her pillow.

"I DON'T LIKE HIM!" She screamed.

At least no one was at home right now. Yashamaru passed his exams with flying colors so they went to a restaurant to celebrate. Yashamaru knew Karura wasn't coming so he assured that he would bring some food back for her. She wanted some Takiyoki, she hoped Yashamaru would bring that. She rolled over and yawned. She really was nervous about the exams. The written exam shouldn't be too hard. She studied the subjects faithfully and she will past it. She was pretty confident about it. It's the field test that will be hard on her.

From what she heard from the older Shinobi, there will be a sand storm that will be coming through. Just what she wanted, but hey, once she gets to Jounin status, she will be the best there is. She sat up and yawned. She stayed up late until the later morning and she was still tired to keep studying for the written test. She will pass it. She was that determined. She grinned as well. She was going to show the Fairy that she was no pushover, no siree. She took off her clothes as she went into her bathroom to take a lukewarm bath. She wanted to relax before going to bed.

She was in her panties and bra as she looked at the mirror. She was a short girl. But what lacked in height, she made up for the curves she got from her mother. She was proud of her figure. She was a woman that has gone through wind and weather and hell to get to this point in her life. Her tanned skin has the color of the bronze sands. Her teal eyes sparkled in the mirror. She was okay looking in her eyes.

After she took off the remaining clothing, she sunk into the tub, sighing with relief. She trained hard the past few days, her mother was proud of working so hard. Her father ruffled her hair and said that she will be the first woman in the family to ever be a shinobi. Her brother was excited that she was going to be the most awesome jounin ever! In the back of her mind she could see Hikaru's face as she beat him at his game and she wouldn't have to deal with him anymore.

Then she stopped smiling. Never see the guy again. Well, she would be seeing him around.

_"I mean, he's going to be Kazekage in the future. It's not like I care." _She thought. T

he longer she sat in the tub, the longer she kept thinking about the damned fairy. Just when she thought she tried to hate him more, she felt a hot feeling in her stomach and a full on blush went straight to her face. She was _**NOT **_falling for the guy. Unfortunately, her body turned traitor on her. Her mind thought back when Hikaru was on top of her during that fight in the rain.

_"Oh damn."_

She shivered. She wasn't falling for him. She wasn't falling for him. She wasn't… she fell. She could feel the blush going over her body and she curled into a ball.

_"I will not admit it out loud. Fine. I like the guy. Gosh." _

She could feel her eyes wet a little. She didn't want to like him. Hikaru and her have always butted heads since she first came to the village 3 years ago. She could remember him going up to her as if she was a lovesick fangirl, and what did she do when he tried to put the moves on her? She punched him in the face. She remembered his absolute surprise on his face as she yelled at him for being a creeper.

She chuckled at that. So she liked him now. Big Whoop, but for her to get to that Jounin status, she had to put aside her feelings and fight and strategize her way through the exams. She will win this bet. Maybe…just maybe, she could talk to Hikaru about maybe letting him see her from time to time. But she will still win. She will beat his ass to the ground and she will prove that she was not a simpering girl. Yup. She will fight and she will win. No doubt about it.

* * *

It was the day of the second exam. She passed her written with flying colors and she was on top! Nothing could stop her. The written was pretty hard. Her teammate, Baki, was smiling all the way through the exam while she was fidgeting all the way through.

"So Karura, I heard you got a high score?" He asked as he was walking along side her. Karura nodded furiously.

"YES! And I won't stop there. I will pass and finally get that Fairy to kneel before me!" She said as fire burned in her eyes.

Baki laughed out loud. "Karura, you and Hikaru-sama have been at it for a while, what is so special about the exams now?" He asked.

Karura looked at Baki and smiled widely. Baki has been her teammate since she first came here. At first she thought he was intimidating, so her self-defense mechanism came on and she and him went into a glaring contest, which ended in her winning after Baki blinked after so long. They have been friends since then. He wore the standard shinobi desert ware and his headband was up on his forehead showing his light blond hair.

"Let's say that I have had a bet with the fairy. If I win, he doesn't bother me anymore. But if he wins…" She paused as she put on a face of disgust.

"I have to be his girlfriend for the next six months." She said as she stuck out her tongue.

Baki chuckled. "Karura, you have got to stop getting into your gambling habits. You have a tendency to lose from time to time." Baki said, as he was genuinely concerned for his friend.

"Don't worry Baki, I will beat the guy. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I can handle it." She said confidently.

She has been thinking about Hikaru, but she really didn't want to be in a relationship with him. She would just feel like she was being used as eye candy. She didn't want to feel like that. That's why she wanted to beat him in the third exam.

"Well, I thought I'd just let you know Karura, Hikaru-sama is stronger than he lets on. There's a reason why he's chosen as the next Kazekage." Baki said as the two friends stopped in front of one of the proctors.

"Name?" The older proctor asked.

"Baki Nakamura."

"Karura Kusabana."

"Okay, good luck out there. A sandstorm should be coming in an hour's time. So be prepared. There will be equipment outside the walls. Choose wisely." The proctor said.

The two chunin nodded in agreement and took their leave. "So, what do you mean by that Baki? I mean, that Hikaru is stronger than he lets on?" She asked.

She was curious. "Karura, do you know why Hikaru-sama isn't in ANBU status?" Baki asked in a serious tone.

She shook her head. He looked at her through the corner of his eye.

"In the years of his genin days, he was known as the Wind Demon. He was placed in ANBU at that time, but he had to still do Genin work. On the nights when ANBU would take care of some things in the Lower East side of Suna, he would be taking care of the Drug lords and weapons smugglers. Believe me, Hikaru-sama at that age was dangerous. He's quite tame now, but believe me, under than playboy exterior, is a shinobi who would do anything to protect his village. Even KILL for it." He spoke gravely.

As the two chunin made it to the equipment shack, another proctor was there.

"Okay, take what you need, then go to your assigned stations and wait for the signal to take off." She said wishing them good luck. After gathering what they needed, she and Baki went their separate ways.

She was nervous. If the Suna ANBU catches her, she would have to fight them. The rules of this exam are to avoid being spotted by the ANBU and avoid confrontation of any kind. Should you be found by ANBU, you have to use your skills of fighting them off and go into hiding, thus a second chance. This exam is a Make it or Break it deal. She has to blend in with the sands to take her opponents by surprise. She could feel the sands beneath her shift and she looked to the west. The wind was slowly picking up.

"Hey Sand Cat." She heard. She turned behind her and there was Hikaru. She groaned inside. She did not want the Fairy to be there.

"What do you want Fairy, I'm trying to get in my zone." She snarked.

She really didn't want to see the guy. She closed her eyes tightly, pretending that he wasn't there and when she opened them she saw burgundy eyes stare back at her. She felt the hot feeling in her stomach again. She hated that feeling. She gritted her teeth as Hikaru smiled at her, her mind reeled back and apparently her inner self was shouting.

_"KISS HIM!"_

She frowned. _**"WHAT?" **_She forced out.

Hikaru leaned back away from her. "Listen up, I'm giving you a warning. The sandstorm may possibly last from three days to a week. I'm giving you a heads up." He said as he reached back to his back pocket and took something out.

It was a scroll. "Here, should you get lost after the time is up for this exam, which will be 4 days, bite your thumb and smear the blood across the seal." He said with a bored expression, at that, Karura quirked an eyebrow at his behavior.

"What will happen afterward?" She asked. Hikaru looked at her with a more interested expression. As if he was concerned.

"Out will pop a summoning animal. They will take you back to the gates of Suna." He said. She shook her head.

"Fine, but I doubt that I will need the scroll." She said as she tried to hand it back to him.

"Look Sand Cat, trust me, from what I have heard, this sandstorm will be rough. Most of the ANBU that will be tracking you guys down will most likely have Summoning animals that will be by their sides. So trust me and take it." He said as he placed the scroll back in her hand again.

Karura gave him a glare, but put the scroll in her pack, satisfied he nodded. "Why do you care Fairy? If you haven't noticed, I hate you with a passion." She said as she glared.

Hikaru chuckled. "Well apparently I do care. Plus, I want to fight you again. So I can't wait for that." He said as he crossed his arms with pride.

She looked him in the eyes and frowned. Her heart sped up as she saw something in his eyes. She didn't know what it was, but she felt fear and hatred flow over he mind. She had an exam to pass. "

Thanks for the scroll, fairy." She said mockingly.

"Good luck Sand Cat. You'll need it!" He chuckled as he passed her and disappeared in a flash.

She tried to make her heart slow down, but no avail. She hated feeling like this. She took several deep breaths. She looked up and after she did so, she saw a flare blast into the sky and explode. That was her signal. She took off into the dunes and made plans that were 5 steps ahead in her mind. Her fan was on her back and she had a pack on top of that filled with essentials. Water, food, fire starters, she has everything she need to survive out here. She will pass this easily. Hikaru better watch out, The Wind Sorceress will bite back and kick his ass in the final Exam. She will win this. One way or another.

* * *

The sandstorm was worst than she imagined. She managed to hide away for about three days, until the winds started to blow harder than before. She had on her headband around her mouth and she ran towards another dune to hide her for a few minutes, be for the dune dissipated into the air. She counted three days. Tomorrow was the day to return to Suna unharmed. She didn't know how far out from Suna she was. She covered her eyes a bit and looked out beyond the dunes.

She froze, seeing ANBU about 2 kilometers away from her. She had to turn back. She opened up her fan and with as much strength she could muster, she shouted,

"WIND JUTSU: Roaring Winds!" As she swung down her fan, the wind picked up speed around her and blasted its way to the ANBU that was down there.

They were blown off their feet as Karura ran the other direction. She managed to have them think that the storm was getting worse, as it was, but she had to make sure she was hidden well enough to pass this test. She was running low on rations. She was down to three beef jerkies, 2 food pills and 1 bottle of water left. She had to stretch them out or she would suffer from dehydration and starvation. There would be times that if a ninja isn't found out in the dunes, they would suffer and starve to death. All she had to do was wait out tomorrow. But unfortunately, that didn't happen.

After she made sure that she was a safe distance away, she heard a growl behind her. She looked behind her and saw a large sand cat behind her. It was about the size of a lion and its black spots were flashing before her eyes. Its ravenous yellow-green eyes were locked on her like prey. Karura knew that Sand cats were dangerous. Their sharp claws and teeth could take you out. She took a couple of hesitant steps back, the cat followed soon after. It bared its teeth, yowling at her. She took out her kunai and gritted her teeth.

Animals like sand cats don't go out into sandstorms unless they are starving. This particular animal apparently is desperate enough to hunt down a ninja. It lunged at her and she dropped her pack to gain the upper hand to fight the animal. It was fast, but Karura, not feeling the heavy weight on her back anymore, she was faster. She managed to cut into the feline's hind leg, but it struck out its large front paw and it's claws ripped through her leg as she screamed in pain. She fell into the sand clutching her leg trying to stop the bleeding. The cat seemed to smirk at her as it stalked closely to her. Karura bit down on her tongue and stood up with her injured leg.

She could feel her eyes blur and she was loosing blood. She didn't want to die out here. The sandstorm was getting worse and the sands started to pelt her clothing and it was getting into her wounds. She was feeling cold and she was about to pass out. The cat jumped at her and the last thing she did, was to stab the cat in the chest near the heart and felt blood pool out on her as she lay in the golden sands. Feeling cold, and hearing voices shout over the howling sands. She felt her eyes flutter close and the world went dark, falling into silence.

* * *

_**TAL21:**_** OKAY!** So i said that i would put up this chapter on Thanksgiving, but other things popped up. So if i do put up a deadline, don't expect me to have the chapter up at that deadline. But i still put it up! XD Anyways, i hope you liked this chapter! I have other things to worry about beside this and trust me, i do have a life outside of . it's rough but it's life. So without further ado, let's go to the shout-outs!

_**Scorpio' .Opal.:**_ Sasori and TFK isn't really related, it's the fact that they are adopted in a sense to the Second Kazekage and he wanted to keep and eye on them. So that's why i have them in the same household. plus, Sasori is friggan awesome. Who can compete with the guy that works with puppets. Thanks for The review!

_** TalesGameSeriesLover: **_YES! Fluff is fun to work with especially when you have two characters butting heads! XD And Don't worry, there will be more fluff coming up!

_**SpunkyPaperAngel: **_Yeah, romance is basically my deal here so i'm glad you enjoyed it! As for the fight scenes, it's hard to put it to words especially when you try to put it onto paper, but i hope i did well enough to make it believable. Plus more TFK and Karura love will be coming your(and the readers) way!

_**TAL21:**_Now that we are done with the shootouts i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, _**LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS!**_ I do ask for reviews because it means to me at least, that i'm doing something right or wrong with this story. Now i will have the next chapter of _**Wind and Sand**_ up on christmas eve. So get your yuletide ready for it! Now for those who have been reading _**TDTNT,**_ i will be putting a temporary hiatus on it, due to complication in the Manga and Anime of Naruto. It totally thru me for a loop and now i have to rethink everything a bit. But _**Wind and Sand**_ will be continuing on!. As for _**Silver Heart, **_it will also go on temporary hiatus due to a new fandom that took over my mind. **_AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!_ ** Yes, i'm obsessed with that fandom now and i'm busy working on a LOKI/OC story for it as well. So if you want, Go to my profile and read _**Time is Running Out,**_and i hope you enjoy the previews for it! Now if you will excuse me, i have other things i have to work on. Remember, _**REVIEW AND KEEP ON READING AND IMAGINING!**_** :D**


	13. Authors Note

_**AUTHORS NOTE! **_

HELLO _**WIND AND SAND **_and _**THE DEAD TELL NO TALES **_READERS! I know i haven't posted the chapters needed to continue the stories but the sooner i posted this the better.

Since the _**Naruto **_Manga has taken a turn, i have to do some changes and not only that, i'll be waiting until _**AFTER **_the manga ends to continue on. I'm really sorry that i haven't posted anything since the last chapter, and i truly feel like a horrible writer for that. BUT! For the _**Dead Tell No Tales: Prologue **_i will finish it up sometime in the future, but for now, it's on temporary Hiatus. I will not be working on _**Wind and Sand **_until i figure out what to do to continue it for Karura's situation and Hikaru's high-and-mighty attitude. It will also, be on temporary hiatus.

I'm sorry that you are disappointed, but i promise you, i won't leave these stories unfinished! I will come back around to them when i get those dastardly plot bunnies and have them give me back my ideas for these stories. Thank you for taking time to read this!

**_REMEMBER_**_** TO KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


End file.
